When Darkness Falls
by TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsLazuli
Summary: Steven Universe has finally decided to start healing the Corrupted Gems behind the backs of the Crystal Gems, and for months he's tried to no avail. Then Steven discovers something terrifying. Homeworld has decided to invade Earth, and this time with a force large enough to destroy all of Humanity. Prequel to Separate Ways. 2nd in the "Original Storyline" Universe, 1st in order.
1. Secrets

**Hello everyone! Welcome to my prequel to Separate Ways, hope you've stuck around long enough to read this story as well. For new readers, let me explain myself.**

 **This story is a prequel for my story Separate Ways. You can read this until it's finished and then move on to Separate Ways, but you could also read the other story first since it's already completed. Do what you wish, either way I hope you enjoy the first chapter. Let's begin.**

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There were many things that to happen soon. So many things, and all of them terrible. Yet they'd all occur in the near future, not the present. No one could see what would happen, not even the ones who could forsee the future. There were things, amazing things happening in the present that took everyone's focus away from the storm ahead.

And one of those things had started something. Something that would change the way people lived their lives forever.

The first known healing of a Corrupted gem.

The boy stood in the center of the Burning Room, holding a green gem in his hands. The room had shown signs of a fight occurring. There were deep scratches all over the marble floor, the boy's shirt being melted in various spots on the salmon colored fabric, and a ripped up leash on the ground next to the boy's feet. Despite the damage left behind the boy was only a little banged up and he held the prized gem in his hands. He had poofed the beast for the third time this week without success of curing the monster and his attempts at helping it had taken a toll on his body. Today he only received a few burns and scratches, but previous sessions has done things like bruised up his ribs and left gashes around his neck and back. His shirt his the injuries well, So as long as he kept his actions a secret he would be fine. And he was eager to make another attempt at fixing the creature.

He licked his hand, making sure to completely cost his palm with his saliva, and wrapped his fingers around the gem. He waited for any kind of response from the gemstone in his hands as his spit covered the whole thing. He waited.

And waited. But nothing happened.

Steven's heart sunk, but it was a feeling he had become familiarized with when trying to heal some of the corrupted gems. Some days it seemed that the only things he gained during his "sessions" were bruises, scars and a bunch of disappointment. Whenever the corrupted gems reformed they would always return to their monster-like tendencies and usually try attack Steven. No matter how much spit he sloshed over the gemstones, nothing would ever change. It seemed that there was no cure for cord at all and the demented beasts were doomed to their garbled forms forever.

Steven had been trying to heal the corrupted gems for a few months now with no success, and his hope was starting to dwindle. He had come so close to healing at least the Centipeedle, but it seemed that his luck had ran out. Maybe he wasn't as strong as he thought he was, and he already held himself so low.

Despite the grim situation Steven refused to just give up. He would come to the Burning Room every chance he got, until he was able to heal at the very least one of the captive gems. There was no way Steven would ever stop until he kept his promise to the Centipeedle and helped her. He just couldn't bear to see her suffer any more. No matter how many of the monsters attacked him, no matter how many broken bones or scars he received, he'd give her his all to the very end.

Another thing that made his sessions more difficult were his injuries. Of course he had his healing spit that would patch up any one of his injured loved ones, but for some strange reason it never fully worked with his personal injuries. He was only able to heal deep wounds and broken bones, but anything past that would stick with him. The pain was getting worse and there was no way to soothe it, so he just hid his injuries from his family. Thank goodness his shirt and jeans hid almost all of his injuries. Most of the pain was stuff he could just ignore, but whenever it got too intense for him he isolated himself from his friends and family as to not alarm them and ask him questions about how he got hurt. That did not need to happen.

Steven hid all of this from his loved ones for many different reasons. The first and foremost reason was that he knew they would never leave him unsupervised with a gem monster, not even after how far he's come with the Centipeedle. The Crystal Gems would most likely attack the creature if anything got out of hand, his father would tell him to leave the monsters to the Gems, and Connie would insist on being there to observe a Corrupted gem for the first time. She'd end up getting hurt, which is the last thing he needed on his already heavy conscience. This is also why he kept his injuries a secret so they didn't worry about him 24/7. On top of all that, he was worried that if he told anyone that he was still trying to help the monsters, they'd all keep pestering him about how well it's been going. He didn't want to let anybody down every time someone would ask, cause then even they'd lose hope too. This was just going to be Steven's little secret until there was some sort of improvement with the Centipeedle, or any of the monsters at that. He had always been good at hiding his issues, and over the years he had internalized a lot of conflicts. What's one more secret from the world going to harm?

Steven begrudgingly bubbled the Centipeedle's gemstone and let it rise back into place next to the other captive beasts. He'd be back later for her. Then he went over to the door to the temple, the Rose Quartz gem on the door already glowing, and the temple door opened. Steven stepped through and found himself back in the Beach House. The door closed behind him, and he made his way to the fridge for a quick snack.

It was nighttime, and on his way to the fridge he spotted the clock and noticed that it said **12:03.** It was way past his bedtime, so the Gems thought that Steven would be in bed now, giving him plenty of time to have his sessions with the monsters. He waited until nighttime to enter the Burning Room under the cover of darkness to do his furtive deeds without drawing suspicions from his family. It wasn't easy to keep his doings from everyone he cared about, and the guilt was so overbearing that he could barely stand to look the Gems in the eyes when talking to them. Steven knew that he couldn't keep up this act forever, and so he sincerely hoped he could cure the Corrupted gems soon or he'd crack under all the pressure.

Steven looked around the refrigerator and settled on eating an apple, so he grabbed one of the fresh fruit and closed the door before taking a big bite out of the apple's crisp surface. While he was chewing he swore he heard the steps leading up to the house creaking, indicating that someone was here. Steven Immediately stopped chewing and strained to hear the sound, but the creaking had ceased as quickly as it occurred. After a few seconds of listening to silence Steven proceeded to eat his apple, dismissing the noise and thinking it was his imagination at work. Then he heard the noise return, and a few second later he saw someone appear at the screen door, silently open it, and creep into the house. The silent intruder was hidden in the shadows, so Steven couldn't make our who it was, but he was scared nonetheless. He was even more freaked out when the shadow quietly called out his name.

"Steven? Are you here? Are you alone?" A female voice said.

Steven was confused. Why was this mysterious intruder looking for him at such a late time?

"Yes I'm here," he said to the shadow, making his way to the living room. "Who are you?"

"It's Lapis," she said, stepping out into the pale moonlight seeping through the windows and revealing herself.

Steven let out a breath of relief, thankful it wasn't a burglar. "Oh hi, Lapis. What brings you here at such a late hour?"

"I um...I just wanted to see you," Lapis said sheepishly, picking at the hem of her dress, looking at the ground. "Is this a bad time?"

"No of course not Lapis," Steven said, setting the apple down on the counter and walking over to the gem. "It's always good seeing you."

When he left the kitchen and walked over to Lapis he gave her a big hug, causing both him and Lapis to blush with embarrassment. Nonetheless she returned the gesture with a hug if her own and the two friends were locked together in a warm embrace. After a few seconds of hugging Steven broke away from the hug to ask the question that was on his mind at the time.

"What are you doing here, is something wrong?" He asked, a look of concern plastered onto his face.

"No everything's fine," Lapis said reassuringly, putting Steven's mind at ease. "I just missed you. Is it okay if we just talked for a while?"

"Absolutely. Do you want to go someplace more private? I don't want the Gems coming out of their rooms and Interrupting us."

"That sound alright," Lapis said in agreement. "Got any place special in mind?"

"How about the hill behind my house, at the top of the temple," Steven suggested.

"That seems private enough. Let's go."

Lapis followed Steven out the door and down the stairs until they were on the sandy shores of the beach. Then without warning Lapis grabbed Steven, hoisted him into her back and flew up to the hill in one consecutive motion. At first Steven was surprised that Lapis did that but his confused was quickly diminished and replaced with excitement as they soared up to the hill within seconds before landing on the grassy landscape.

"Whoa, thanks Lapis that was fun!" Steven said happily, while the two of them sat down on the crisp, cool grass.

"No problem Steven, I like having fun with you," Lapis said with a smile.

The two got real quiet as they observed the beautiful night they were having. The moon was full, shining in all of its heavenly glory on the sleepy town of Beach City, illuminated the two friends who sat together, enjoying each other's company. The grass that they sat on was cold and a little wet, indicating that the summer months were coming to a close and that autumn was just around the corner. The healthy green blades were just beginning to frost over, and so Steven's rear was kind of damp, but perfectly bearable for him. A chilly gust of wind blew through the night, causing Steven to shiver a bit as the chilled air bit at his skin, including the various bruises, burns and cuts he received while dealing with the gem monsters.

Lapis noticed Steven's shivering, so she scooted over behind him and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body against his and basically giving him a hug from behind.

"Are you warm enough?" Lapis asked sweetly.

"I am now," he replied, feeling a little nervous that this beautiful gem was putting her body against his back. "Thank you."

"So how have you been doing while I was away?" She asked.

"Well let me think," Steven said, thinking about everything that's happened since he saw her last. "Did I ever tell you about our showdown with Jasper at the Beta Kindergarten?"

"You told me that Peridot took you and Amethyst there and that Jasper was there when she became corrupted from a fusion , then Peridot poofed her."

"That's all I told you!? I never told you how Amethyst and I fought her?"

"No, you told me you'd tell me more another time," she said. "I'm all ears now."

So Steven told her everything. He told her about fusing with Amethyst completely by accident, and that Smoky Quartz beat Jasper like it was nothing. Then after Peridot finished Jasper off, they bubbled her and then the three of them came home and dealt with the Rubies.

"Oh my gosh, Steven that's incredible!" Lapis exclaimed. "Your first fusion with a gem!"

"Yeah, it felt pretty awesome, and just think Amethyst really needed it. When you're fused, you can see into each other's minds, and Amethyst evidently has a lot of emotional baggage. Fusing with her did some good for her, and I'm always happy to help people. You know that."

"So you had fun as Smoky Quartz?" Lapis asked.

"I had a lot of fun," Steven replied.

"Well it sounds like you had quite the experience. Anything else happen worth mentioning?"

"Mmm, let me think," Steven said, recalling all that's happened recently. He though of a few...unpleasant things that were on his mind, plus everything he was hiding from everyone, but he wanted to keep all of that to himself. So he just played dumb and told Lapis "Nope, nothing else happened."

"You sure?" Lapis pressed further.

He shook his head.

The silence returned between the two once more, but it was because Steven didn't want to say anything more or he'd crack under the pressure. Steven cared about Lapis very deeply, but she'd been through so much pain already. He didn't need to give her the burden of knowing all of his issues and problems while she was dealing with her own.

It wasn't just that though. He felt really uncomfortable with how Lapis was hugging him, using her body to keep his warm. He began to blush, silently grateful that the night sky hid his rosy cheeks. You see, ever since Steven released Lapis from the mirror he had a huge crush on her and got super nervous whenever she was around. Even though he was great at hiding his emotions, inside he was a mess in her presence. She was just so beautiful and sweet, of course he'd be crushing on her, at least just a little bit. Great, just another thing he had to hide from everyone.

After a few minutes of just sitting with each other quietly Lapis broke the silence. "Steven, can I tell you something?"

"You can tell me anything, Lapis," Steven answered. "What's up?"

"As you know, while I was trapped in that mirror I saw a lot of different things," she started. "People would always ask me questions and use me as a tool, and sometimes someone would just talk to me like I was some sort of therapist. Some gems would reveal to me all their secrets and desires, their fantasies and dreams, basically spilled their guts to me. I've seen a lot of people with a lot of different problems clouding their minds, so I can read people very well. The only benefit of my time in the mirror."

"So you can know someone's having issues in life just by their mood? Steven asked.

"Yes, but also by reading their body language, their actions, and whether or not they talk a lot."

"Okay, so is someone you know having problems?"

"Yes. It's you."

Steven's uneasiness began to grow. He gulped hard before speaking again. "What gives you that idea? I'm fine, nothing's worn or anything. Why do you think that I'm having issues?"

"I haven't seen much of you lately for one," Lapis explained. "And it seems that you've been kind of distant whenever you visit Peridot and I at the barn. Are you having problems with the Gems?"

"No, the Gems have been treating me just fine," Steven said reassuringly. "Trust me Lapis, everything's just fine. I appreciate your concern for me though."

"Alrighty then," Lapis said, almost in an unconvincing tone. "I trust you."

Neither of them said anything more about Lapis' suspicions, so Steven's uneasiness disappeared and he thought he was in the clear. Unfortunately the silence between the friends grew from soothing and peaceful to uncomfortable and awkward, and Steven couldn't take it anymore. Desperate to break the silence he asked, "So how's life at the barn been? Have you and Peridot been getting along well?"

"It's been alright. Peridot's actually kind of okay to be around," Lapis answered. "She's been super nice and takes every opportunity to show me how sorry she is for kidnapping me for her mission. It's just..." she trailed off.

"What is it?" Steven asked.

"I just want to know one thing. Why do you trust her and the Crystal Gems? You know about everything they've done to me, and they bubble and trap gems like their some kind of animals! They betrayed Homeworld, and they were the reason there was a war in the first place. How can you trust them after all that?"

"Well, it's the same reason you trust me. We've known each other for a while now, and if you grow up around someone all the time, they basically become your family," Steven explained. "Does that make any sense?"

"I guess so. But gems don't grow up, so it's kind of hard to understand what you mean, but I get the gist of what you're saying."

"How come you still resent the gems after everything we've been through?" Steven asked. "Do you really think that they like doing what they have to do to protect the Earth? This place is their home Lapis...it's _my_ home too. They believe all life is worth protecting, no matter what. Why can't you understand that?"

"Why can't you understand how bad they are?! They've trapped me and Peridot here, they've angered Homeworld by rebelling, and they shattered a diamond. How is that okay?"

"Perspective," he said plainly.

"What? How is that relevant to what we're talking about?" Lapis asked.

"This situation is different depending on who's perspective you're looking through. My mother, Rose Quartz believed what Homeworld was doing to Earth was terrible and she couldn't stand it, so she and the Crystal Gems rebelled. To the Crystal Gems and the Humans alive at the time, Rose's mission was one worth fighting for, so I'll always think that what the gems did was good because it allowed for me to exist and my home is still safe. From your perspective, rebelling against Homeworld, your home, is a traitorous disgrace and that all this rebels should be shattered for fighting back against the Diamond Hierarchy. You will always think of them as enemies to Homeworld for being out of align, and you feel that they are enemies because they had you trapped in that mirror for centuries. I think they're good, you think they're bad. It's all about perspective. But there is no right or wrong perspective, because perspective is neutral , it never takes sides. How's that for an answer?"

"I'd say very detailed, but my opinion of them hasn't changed," said Lapis.

"Oh well."

Steven got up from the ground and pulled away from Lapis' embrace. "Lapis, it's getting late and I don't want to get in trouble if the Gems wake up."

"I understand Steven." Lapis stood up and summoned her wings. "One last question though. What were you doing up so late?"

Despite the ever-present risk of having his secret found out, Steven calmly responded with "It's a secret, so I can't tell you. No one else knows either. Don't bring it up around anyone else, okay?"

"No problem," she said. "Goodbye."

And with that she flew away from the hill into beautiful night sky towards the barn, and soon she vanished into the night.

Steven stretched his arms out while letting out a yawn, and he made his way back to the house. After a short walk he made it back to the house, silently slipped inside and went up to his room where he plopped down onto his bed. He let out a loud sigh of relief as the comforting feeling of sleepiness overcame him. Right before he fell into a deep sleep however, he swore he saw a small silhouette dart around in the kitchen and disappearing into the darkness. He dismissed it as his imagination on overdrive again, and soon he fell asleep.

Even though Steven didn't know it then as he fell asleep, but this moment of peace talking with his friend and being able to fall soundly asleep instantly would be the last peaceful moment he'd have for quite a while. If only he knew of the trouble heading his way...

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 **So here's the first chapter of my prequel to Separate Ways, I know it's kind of short and not very detailed, but this is just the beginning. There will be more to come over time so be prepared for an amazing story. I don't have a schedule, but I'll update whenever I can. Until next time, Lazuli out!**


	2. Blissful Ignorance

**Hey everyone, here's a new chapter for my SU fanfic. If you haven't already go read my other Fanfic "Separate Ways" because this story is a prequel for that one. Anyways enjoy the chapter and I'll see you later.**

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Steven had awoken to the sound of a loud crashing noise. He immediately opened his eyes and sat up in bed, startled by the sudden noise. He got out of bed and ran down to the kitchen where the sound had come from and found that there were a bunch of shattered plates all over the floor. Amethyst was there and she was standing there balancing some more plates on top of her head. It seemed that she couldn't balance all of the plates and some fell to the ground.

"Amethyst?" Steven said sleepily. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing really," she replied with, trying to keep herself steady. "Just trying to pass the time. You were asleep and the others went out to go to the kindergarten. I really wasn't in the mood to go down memory lane any time soon."

"Well could you stop destroying our plates? We don't have an endless amount of those."

"Whatever you say champ." Amethyst took the plates off of her head and returned them to the cabinet they belonged in. Knowing she wouldn't do it, Steven grabbed a nearby broom and began sweeping up the broken glass. Pearl would have a fit if she saw the mess.

"So let me ask you something," Said Amethyst, sitting down on the counter. "Why were you hanging out with Lapis last night?"

Steven froze and his face felt hot. "You were spying on me?"

"What?! No of course not. I was just quietly observing you two without either of you knowing," she said with a devilish grin. "So what did ya talk about?"

"Just gem stuff," he replied while pouring the dustpan of glass into the garbage can. "I told her more about our showdown with Jasper at the beta Kindergarten."

"And how'd it go?"

"She was actually pretty excited for me. She knows about Stevonnie, but Smoky Quartz was my first gem fusion, but she was surprisingly happy for me. Then..."

"What next?" Amethyst asked.

"Well actually, the rest of that conversation is private," he said."i don't think she'd like for me to reveal what we talked about."

"Aww, crud!" Amethyst complained, lying down on the counter top and letting out a loud sigh of disappointment.

"So why did Pearl and Garnet go to the kindergarten?" Steven asked after he returned the broom to its place.

"Dunno, they wouldn't tell me."

"They didn't tell you why?" He said in shock. "That's kind of suspicious. Do you think we should be worried?"

"Nah, they're probably just looking for more gem monsters or whatever."

"Maybe." Steven walked over to the fridge and opened to look for something to eat while he talked. "But I don't like that they never told you why they were going."

"Well I did tell them I didn't want to go, maybe that's why," Amethyst concluded.

"Yeah, there's that too." Steven decided to get an apple from the fridge before closing the door. "It's probably nothing," he said before taking a bite of the red fruit. "Did they say when they'd be back?"

"Nope."

"Huh."

Amethyst sat up from the countertop. "Got any plans?"

"Given that I just woke up no, but I might make some plans for later," he said in between chewing. "You?"

"None so far," she replied.

There was a break in the conversation as Steven finished his Apple and discarded the core into the garbage bin.

"I'm gonna go take a shower now, get ready for the day," he said before returning to his room.

"Go ahead, I'll be taking a nap," she said before walking over and plopping down on the couch.

Steven gathered his clothes from his closet and took them over to the bathroom door, where he entered the room and closed the door behind him. Just to ensure Amethyst wouldn't walk in on him like she had countless times before he locked the door as well. He then grabbed a towel from the cabinet under the seat, set it on the sink's counter and went over to the shower. He turned the water on and held his hand under the shower head and adjusted the knobs until the water was at an ideal temperature for him. When he was satisfied with the water Steven disrobed and stepped into the shower before closing the shower curtain.

While the warm water cascaded over his body Steven began to think about all the things he could do today. He could go down to the boardwalk and pay Peedee a visit while he was working. Or maybe he could go down to the Big Donut and hang out with Lars and Sadie while he ate some donuts. He could also see if Connie was able to come over today and they could both go to Funland and spend the day there. She'd like that, yeah, that's what Steven's plans were going to be. If he wanted to hang out with Connie it would have to be soon because it was midway through August and he was already seeing commercial after commercial about back to school shopping for new clothes and supplies. The weather was also slowly but surely showing signs of the upcoming fall, as the warm summer weather had been gradually getting cooler and the leaves on some trees were already starting to change colors, and some of them had even started falling off the trees. Yes indeed fall was coming, which meant that soon he wouldn't be able to see his friends as much when school started. Sometimes Steven hated the fact that he was homeschooled by his father and the gems all his life, if he was in school he would have so many friends he wouldn't know what to do with himself. But then again, he may have never met Connie.

Ah, Connie. His best friend, his all time favorite person of all time. Connie was probably the greatest person in Steven's life. He felt bad for hiding all of his recent troubles since she always told him whatever was bothering her. He felt like it was a one-sided friendship sometimes, with him never being able to be as great a friend as she was to him. Great, now whenever he thought of her he'd feel like garbage for treating her so poorly.

While he was thinking Steven opened his bottle of shampoo, poured some in his palms and began scrubbing the sweet smelling stuff Into his thick, curly hair. He used his fingernails to scrub the shampoo deeply into his scalp, making sure he got every inch of his hair shampooed up. As he was doing this he realized that he realized that the combination of both the warm water and the shampoo was sending a burning sensation throughout various places on his body. He looked down and realized that the mixed combination was irritating all of his wounds and cuts that were still healing. It was similar to the feeling of getting salt in a cut, except more powerful and in patches all over his torso. It was bearable enough for him though and he hoped that the Gems wouldn't discover his current state. With a sigh he rinsed the shampoo out of his hair and ignored the pain from his body as he then used the soap bottle to bathe the rest of himself. Then after ten more minutes of daydreaming and washing up he turned the water off and dried himself off with his towel before getting ready for the day.

A half hour later Steven was wearing clean clothes and lying in bed, scrolling through the contacts list on his cell phone. When he found the one he was looking for he clicked on it and put the phone to his ear as the phone ringed. After a few rings a voice on the other end spoke. "Hello?"

"Hi Connie!" Steven said happily.

"Oh hi Steven!" Connie said with just as much happiness as Steven did. "What's up?"

"Oh nothing much really," Steven said. "Listen I've been thinking. You're about to start school up in a few weeks and we won't be able to hang out as much when that happens, so I was hoping we could hang out for the day and have some fun together."

"Yeah of course, I'd love that!" She responded eagerly. "Oh wait, I have to ask my parents to see if that's okay. Could you hold on for a second?"

"Sure, go ahead."

The line went silent for a minute, then in the background Steven could hear Connie talking to her parents but he couldn't make out what they were saying. By the sounds of it Connie and her parents were having a full on discussion, and Steven was starting to fear that she wouldn't be able to hang out. When Connie's voice returned he had feared the worst.

"What are your plans for the next week?" She asked plainly.

Steven was confused. "Um, I don't have any. Why?"

Connie's cheerful demeanor returned. "Because my parents said I could spend the entire week with you!"

"Really!? Oh my gosh, that's _amazing,_ Connie! We can have a sleepover every night!"

"And roast marshmallows," Connie added.

"And go to Funland."

And watch the season 2 premiere of Under the Knife."

"And eat Pizza!"

"Yeah!"

"So when do you leave?" Steven asked, calming himself down a bit.

"Mom and dad said that I can leave right after I pack!" Connie said excitedly. "I gotta go get my things together, I'll be there in 45 minutes."

"Alright I'll see you then," Steven said. "Bye."

"Bye."

Steven hung up the phone and ran down the stairs into the living room whether Amethyst was still awake on the couch. "Amethyst! Amethyst!"

"What!?" She screamed, immediately sitting up and reaching for her gem, ready to summon her whip. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Connie's going to come over for the week!" He exclaimed with stars in his eyes.

"Oh, oh..." Amethyst said, breathing a sigh of relief as she slumped back into the couch. "You scared be bud. That's great news Steven, when will she get here?"

"She said 45 minutes because she needs time to pack."

"Sweet," Amethyst said with a smile. "Now it won't be so boring around here."

"You don't think Garnet and Pearl will mind, do you?" He asked, completely forgetting about the two gems.

"Nah I doubt it, they love having Connie over. Especially Garnet because Connie was your first fusion."

"Awesome. This is going to be the best week-long sleepover ever!" Be declared. "I have to get ready."

Steven ran off up to his room again and started gathering up all of his blankets and sheets together into a big pile. Then he got to work spreading some of them on the floor until the floor was covered with a soft and pillow-like surface, comfortable enough to lay on. Then Steven used the rest of the blankets and used them to make roofs on the dresser and the bed frame that covered the floor and made it seem more cozy. By the time Amethyst went to see what he was doing a few minutes later Steven had already converted his entire room into a huge pillow fort, big enough to fit two people, Steven's TV, and a basket full of all sorts of sugary sweets and refreshing juice boxes.

"Whoa Steven!" Amethyst exclaimed, observing the beautifully made fort. "This is awesome, dude. And I see that you're both sleeping on the floor together. You gonna wrap your arm around her and hold her tight?" She nudged him with her shoulder.

"What, no Amethyst!" He replied, feeling embarrassed by her question.

"Oookay then," she said, walking away from her room before stopping to add "I guess she'll be the one to make the first move."

"Amethyst!" He whined as she walked away in a fit of laughter.

Steven went back to completing the finishing touches on the fort when he heard the warp pad activate, announcing Garnet and Pearl's presence. He stopped what he was doing and dashed to the warp pad where the two gems stood.

"Pearl! Garnet!" He proclaimed happily, trapping them both in his arms when he went in for a group hug.

"Well good morning Steven!" Pearl said.

"Hello there," Garnet also said.

"Hey guys! Now that you're here I can tell you the good news."

"What good news?" Pearl asked.

"I bet it has something to do with Connie," Garnet suggested, nudging Steven with her elbow.

"It does," Steven confirmed. "I asked if we could hang out today since school's starting up soon, and her parents said she could spend the whole week here with us! Can you believe that?"

Pearl and Garnet's cheerful expressions quickly diminished, being replaced with some other face that Steven couldn't put his finger on. Pearl looked over at Garnet, who said nothing in response but seemed to be thinking about something.

"Is...is something wrong?" Steven asked, taken off guard by their sudden change in demeanor. "Do I have to tell her she can't come?"

"Actually Steven," Pearl started. "You should probably cancel-"

"No," Garnet interrupted. "She can still come over and stay with us, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Are you sure?" Steven questioned further, expressing his concern.

"Of course. You won't be able to see each other as much during the school year, so you kids enjoy the time you have left."

"Okay we will, thanks Garnet!" Steven said, a smile returning to his face.

"You're welcome Steven," Garnet said. "Run along now, go get ready for Connie's arrival."

"Alrighty, see you later." He ran off back to his room and left the gem alone. Unbeknownst to Steven, there was trouble arising on Earth, trouble that Pearl and Garnet were already aware of.

"Garnet, are you sure having Connie over is a good idea right now?" Pearl asked Garnet. "Maybe we should cancel the sleepover and tell Steven that-"

"Let them have their fun," Garnet said, cutting off Pearl. "If what we think is happening is actually happening, then they should spend all the time they have left together. School will be the least of their problems soon."

"Should we tell anyone about our current situation?"

"For now, we should just tell Greg and Amethyst," Garnet answered. "But leave the kids out of this. No need to scare them if we're wrong. I hope we're wrong."

"So do I just pretend that nothing's wrong? I always do that!" Pearl hissed angrily.

"Then you should have no problem hiding this as well." Garnet took off her shades so she could talk to Pearl eye to eye. All three of her eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty, which surprised Pearl and made her even more scared than she already was. "If we're right about this, then there's much to be done in so little time. If this is really happening...you may want to make peace with yourself." Tears began to form I'm Garnet's eyes. "And say goodbye if we have to."

"Do you really think it'll come to that?" Pearl was also starting to cry.

Garnet wiped away her tears and put her shades back on. "I hope it doesn't. But it just might."

* * *

Just like she promised Connie had been dropped off at Steven's house 45 minutes after their phone call, holding a black duffel bag in her hand as she walked over to the beach house and walked up the stairs. She was about to knock on the door when Steven sprung the screen door open, nearly ripping it off the hinges in the process, and attacked Connie with one of the super tight bear hugs he was known for. Connie helped out in surprise before returning the gesture to him and cheerfully saying "Hello to you too Steven!"

"I'm so happy to see you!" The happy-go-lucky boy cheered. "Are you ready to have the greatest week of your life?"

"Yeah!" She declared, throwing a fist in the air.

"Alright then, come in come in!" Steven said, gesturing for her to come in. As Connie stepped inside he took the heavy bag from her and carried it over and up to his room.

"Thanks, that was actually really heavy," Connie said as he walked away.

"No kidding," he replied as he plopped the heavy bag onto his bedroom floor next to the fort. "Did you bring your entire room with you?"

"No but aside from my clothes I brought some books and my sword with me, that's probably why it's so heavy."

"Ah, okay. So how do you want to kick off this amazing week?" He asked.

"Oh, umm..." Connie trailed off, thinking over all the things they could do while they were together. "I don't know actually. Do you have any ideas?"

"Well..." Steven began, a huge smile creeping across his face. "Since the fall season premiere of Under the Knife will be starting in a few weeks, I thought we should celebrate the special occasion." He walked up to his room and came back down with something in his hands. He showed Connie what it was and she gasped in disbelief.

"The Entire first season of Under the Knife with all 52 episodes!?" She read the DVD cover. "Steven, that's amazing!"

"Glad you thought so," he said with a smile. "I saw this at the store last week and I thought of you, so I bought it. Now we can binge watch every episode so we'll be all caught up once the new season premieres."

"Steven, you sir are an amazing human being," Connie said with joy.

"Thank you Connie, I always try to be my best when I'm with you," he said, causing both of the young kids to blush. "Shall we?"

They went up to Steven's room and Steven took the DVD out of the case and put it in his DVD player. While he was setting up the show Connie observed the huge blanket fort in awe. "Wow Steven, did you make this? This is incredible."

"I'm happy you like it, I made it right after you hang up to pack," said Steven, sitting down on the blanket covered floor after he started the show. He patted the blanket space next to him and Connie gladly took the offer by sitting down next to him. As the opening theme montage of Under the Knife began Steven reached over to the wicker basket of snacks, grabbed a bag of chips and held it out to Connie.

"Thanks," she said before accepting the bag and opening it up. As she munched on her chips Steven grabbed himself a bag of chips and two cans of sodas, one of which he also gave to Connie, which resulted in another "thank you" from her. The two of them continued to watch the show after its opening had ended, and so began their first day of their week together. They watched 12 of the episodes when Connie asked him something.

"Have you been watching the news lately?"

Steven looked over at her with a confused look. "No, why?"

"Well," she started. "A couple weeks ago a signal from deep space was received by some of Earth's satellites."

"Wait, we just randomly picked up a signal from space?" Asked Steven.

Connie nodded. "It's just noise though, not like a radio signal or anything, so we just dismissed it as nothing." She took out her phone from her pocket and pulled up a picture from the internet. After a few seconds of scrolling and clicking on things she reached over and showed Steven the picture. It was a satellite image from space that was taken.

And it showed a huge spaceship, one that definitely wasn't human.

The craft was the lenght of 17 football stadiums and the height of one of Empire City's skyscraper. It was shaped like a large "U" with a huge sphere located in the center of the curve. **(Think of the Trade Federation Battleship from Star Wars.)**

"Whoa, what is it?" He asked, still in awe at the image before him.

"Nothing's been confirmed yet, but it appears to be an extraterrestrial spacecraft," Connie answered with excitement. "Governments all over the world have been trying to make contact with this craft to no avail, and most people are trying to determine whether these alleged aliens are peaceful or hostile as well. Some people are even saying that this whole thing is just a very elaborate hoax."

"Don't governments usually try to cover up things like this from the public?" Steven questioned, thinking how unusual this whole thing was.

"Yes but not this time," she continued. "All the world governments have decided to release everything they know and will know about this thing. It's a matter of international security, so I guess this is an exception to what they released to the public."

"Has the ship done anything yet?"

"Not yet. It hasn't done anything in fact. It's actually kind of scaring people that it has done anything yet, myself included."

"Well that's actually pretty cool Connie," Steven said. "Thanks for telling me."

"No problem Steven," Connie replied, putting her phone back in her pocket. "It seemed like the kind of thing you'd be interested in, what with you living with a group of intergalactic guardians of Earth and that you're one of them."

"Should we tell the gems? This seems like something that would worry them."

"No, it's probably nothing they'd care about. They'd think it's a hoax."

And that was the end of that conversation. Steven and Connie went back to watching their show and that was that.

Meanwhile the gems were in the kitchen quietly talking amongst themselves so the children wouldn't hear them. Garnet and Pearl were explaining the arising situation to Amethyst, who was intently listening to what they were saying, a look of seriousness and concern.

"Whoa whoa wait," Amethyst said after a few minutes. "You mean to tell me that you think someone's been activating the communication hub and trying to restart the Kindergarten?"

"Yes," Garnet answered. "We believe there has been someone interfering with some of the gem technology abandoned after the Rebellion. Neither of us have been doing it, so let me ask you this. Have you been messing with anything like that?"

"Of course not, G" Amethyst replied with a hint of annoyance in her tone. "I haven't been screwing with any of that buiz, that's your department."

"We was hoping you wouldn't say that," Pearl said disappointingly.

"And why is that?"

Garnet sighed. "Because if it was none of us then it means someone was doing it behind our backs. Peridot and Lapis would have no use of the little bit of gem technology left behind, and Jasper is bubbled, so...it could only mean one thing."

"It means," Pearl said. "That a Homeworld gem has made it to Earth and they plan to take back this planet."

Amethyst's face turned to one of utter fear and terror. "You don't mean..."

"Yes we mean it," Garnet continued. "We believe an invasion from Homeworld is eminent."

* * *

 **Uh-oh, looks like Earth is in trouble once again with Homeworld. What will happen next? Anyway, sorry for taking so long to update, I've been real busy and whatnot, and for the longest time I was stuck on how to make this chapter. I don't plan on taking this long to make new chapters in the future, but ultimately it depends on what happens. Please follow, favorite and review this story, PM me or whatever. Give me your input! Let me know how I'm doing and how to make this story better. Until next time, Lazuli out!**


	3. Jade

**What's this? Lazuli actually updated this story again? Yes I have, and I hope you enjoy. I made it a little longer than I usually do to make up for taking so long. Enjoy!**

* * *

Steven was standing in the Burning Room and was holding the bubbled Centipeedle in his hands like the many times he had before. He was ready to try again

He had to wait until nightfall in order to sneak into the Burning Room so as to not alert the gems of his work. He also had to wait until Connie fell asleep watching Under the Knife because he didn't want her to know either. She'd want to help and if she did, she would get hurt. That would be the last thing he would want to happen. Luckily Connie didn't take long to pass out, so Steven saw his chance and quietly snuck away.

Steven sighed to himself. "Let's try this again." He popped the bubble and caught the gem before it hit the ground. Then instead of licking his hand and squeezing the gem he just licked the gem itself directly, making sure he coated the entire gemstone in a thick layer of saliva. Then he waited for any results. After a few minutes of waiting the gem began to glow, signifying that the Centipeedle was about to reform. Steven set the gem down and slowly backed away in case the creature was in an aggressive mood. The Centipeedle's form took shape and a few seconds later it was fully reformed in it's corrupted form. It was awake.

The Centipeedle seemed surprisingly calm and stable this time, nothing like it's spooked demeanor like last time. It didn't move much except to turn it's head occasionally to observe it's surroundings.

Steven took a step towards the beast cautiously. "Hey there little buddy."

The Centipeedle turned its attention to him and its single eye widened but it remained calm. Things were going well.

Steven picked up his pace and walked over to stand right in front of it and held his hand out to touch its soft white mane. He gently stroked it and ran his fingers through it and the Centipeedle scooted closer and seemed to purr at his petting.

"There we go," he said soothingly. "Do you remember me?"

The Centipeedle responded with some kind of cackle.

"Okay, I'll take that as a yes. Now hold still, I'm going to try to heal you." He licked his hand and was about to touch the Centipeedle's gemstone, but it growled and reared back from him, its mane starting to rise.

"No no no, I'm not going to hurt you," he assured. "I would never hurt you. I promise."

The Centipeedle continued to freak out for a minute but eventually it calmed down and went back over by Steven so he could work his magic.

"That's better. Now hold still and this terrible nightmare of a form will be gone in a second," he said, really just trying to assure himself more so than the creature. He took his spit-covered hand and put it against the beast's gem.

The Centipeedle immediately pulled away and began completely freaking out, startling Steven and causing him to fall. He crawled away in fear as he thought it was about to attack him.

Instead of closing in for the kill the Centipeedle just stood there and just ceased its panic attack. It didn't move and it wasn't doing anything, it just froze. Steven stared at the monster in both fear and confusion, completely weirded out by its spastic behaviour. He had never seen it do anything like this before.

Then for no apparent reason the Centipeedle just poofed. The gemstone fell to the ground with a clink and then all was still.

Still terrified by the events that just transpired Steven just sat there on the ground and stared and the gemstone, waiting for something to happen.

Then something _did_ happen.

The Gem began to glow once more and the Centipeedle's money or form began to reform. Then it suddenly stopped and was replaced with something else. As it took shape Steven realized what it was with a gasp.

It was a new form. **And** **it** **was** **a** **humanoid** **shape.**

Steven watched in awe as the humanoid shape continued to form until it was completed and the bright glow died down, revealing the fully formed Centipeedle.

She was beautiful. Her skin tone was like a dark yellow-green color like her acidic saliva, she has wide pearl coloured fingernails, and she had long and thick white hair that reached all the way down to her ankles like Jasper. She wore a tight black sleeveless vest and black shorts that only went down a few inches past her knees, tactical military pads on her elbows and kneecaps, black combat boot that didn't have laces, and dark grey leather bracers on her wrists. Her gem was located on her left shoulder, and she had piercing green eyes. In Steven's view, she was beautiful.

Then she collapsed.

Steven gasped and ran over to her side where she layed on the grown in a daze, her one eye glazed over in a confused look. He shook her arm like he was waking her up and was calling out to her to bring her back to reality.

"Centi? Centi are you okay? Your safe now, you're okay," he said, continuing to so shake her.

After a few more minutes of shaking and talking to her she suddenly sat up, so fast that it startled Steven a bit. She turned her head and looked over at him, locking eyes with him and just staring at him with an expressionless look on her face.

"D-do you remember me?" He asked nervously.

She blinked a few times, then looked down at her new form with wide eyes before looking back to Steven. Then she spoke.

"What happened?"

"You became Corrupted," Steven answered. "You've been a monster for...a very long time."

"I don't remember becoming Corrupted. But I remember you."

"Really? What all do you remember?" Steven asked, curious as to what she remembered and anything she would tell him would be helpful.

"I remember being in a Corrupted form when I met you," she started. "You were really nice to me and you tried to heal me right?"

"Yes! Yes, I was trying to cure your Corruption, and it was working." Then Steven frowned, recalling when the Centipeedle freaked out and almost got him and the gems killed in that ice cave, but the Centipeedle saved him only to get poofed by a fallen stalagemite. That was the day he promised to come back for her and keep trying to heal her, no matter what. "Until..."

"I was poofed. I save you," the new gem said. "And then I remember...you kept trying again to heal me. Over and over you tried, but it never worked. Until now."

"Yeah, I guess I finally-" he was cut off and taken by surprised when she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a warm hug.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

After his initial surprise he returned the gesture with a hug of his own, grateful he was finally able to help cure his friend. There they sat there for a minute in each other's arms until the gem suddenly pulled away, startling Steven.

"What's wrong?" He asked frantically, hoping he didn't mess something up between the two.

"There were other gems with you, I remember them now. Where are they, we must tell them of you curing me. Where are they?"

"There here in this temple, in a different room, but I don't think it's a good idea for you to see them," he said.

"Why? I promise I won't hurt them, I'm not Corrupted anymore, I'm-"

"Whoa whoa slow down. It's not you, it's them. They would probably attack you since you're new, and you were only cured a few minutes ago, they'd be suspicious of you," Steven explained.

"Oh. Then what should we do?"

"I don't know, I just still can't believe I've finally healed you after all this time. This is incredible!" He exclaimed.

"I'm shocked as well. No one's ever been cured of Corruption in the history of the Diamond Hierarchy. What you've done is no easy feat, you've just made history Steven."

"Well okay, I'm a beast!" He said, standing up and throwing a fist in the air.

The Gem also got up, giving him a confused face. "You're not a beast, you're a human. Why would you say that?"

"Huh, oh! No that's just a figure of speech. I'm just saying I'm awesome," he said, chuckling a little from her confusion.

"Oh okay," she said. "So...now what?"

"Well first we should properly introduce each other. My name is-"

"Steven, I remember your name. My name is Jade."

"Jade, that's a pretty name. I like it," Steven complimented.

"Thank you," Jade said. She looked around the room they were in as if she'd never been there before. "Where am I?"

"You're in the temple," Steven answered, finding it strange that she didn't recognize her old home. "Did you not live here during the gem war?"

"During? It never ended Steven," she said. "Speaking of which I need to get back to my ship, my crew's probably going crazy without their captain."

"You're a captain!? That's so cool!" Steven exclaimed excitedly. Then what she just said set in and his excitement soon became confusion. "Wait, what do you mean it never ended? The war ended a long time ago, your crew were probably corrupted and put into one of these other bubbles here." He gestured towards the countless bubbled gems floating in the Burning Room.

Jade once again observed the room, somehow completely missing all of the bubbles with her first look at the room. Then she turned to Steven and asked, "How long ago did the war end?"

"Umm, I think one of the Gems said it ended about 5,600 years ago."

"What!? And I'm still stuck here on Earth? I can't believe we lost this 1,000 year war only to be trapped here forever." Jade stomped on the ground in frustration and crossed her arms in an angry manner.

"Hey it's okay," Steve said reassuringly. "There's still a few of the Crystal Gems left, so you're not alone here. And you've got me." He flashed her one of his affectionate grins everyone loves. Instead of seeing the reaction people gave him when he did that Jade gave him a look of disbelief and shock at the same time. "What's wrong?"

"Did you say there are still a few Crystal Gems here?"

"Yeah, why?"

She didn't answer immediately. Instead she looked away from him, trying to avoid answering him. "Nothing."

"It's okay, you can tell me," he said reassuringly. "I can keep a secret."

She looked back at him and Steven was surprised by her saddened expression. "If there are any Crystal Gems left, and I'm still on Earth, then that can only mean one thing."

"What's that?" He asked.

Jade hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breathe and said, "Then we've lost the war."

"Why is that such a bad thing?" Steven asked, confused by her words. "I thought the Crystal Gems winning the war was a good thing."

"Steven, I forgot the Crystal Gems during the Rebellion," she said. "I'm a Homeworld Gem."

* * *

"You guys actually think they'll come back? After all these years?" Asked Amethyst.

The Gems were discussing the dire situation outside of the house on the porch so they wouldn't wake up the kids with their conversation.

"Yes what do,"Pearl answered. "In fact it seems that they've already arrived somewhere here on Earth already. Like we said, the communication hub has been tampered with at some point and it appears someone's been working on restarting the Alpha Kindergarten."

"And there's been recent sightings of a large spacecraft of extraterrestrial origin just outside of Earth's atmosphere by world governments," Pearl added.

"Well what do we do? We can't hold off an invasion if Homeworld were to attack. There's _three_ of us guys, come on. How can we fight back?"

"Well regardless of whatever we do to try and defend ourselves," Garnet said. "We're already at a huge disadvantage since Homeworld has developed such advanced technology since the Rebellion. Just look at all the tech we've seen Peridot by herself use as long as she's been here. Nothing on Earth can withstand against anything Homeworld has. It's an impossible fight."

"Are you hearing yourself? You both fought a war against Homeworld that I'm sure was believed to be an impossible fight, and look how it went! You won. Earth was saved and Homeworld left. How can you just sit there and give up before anything even happens? You call yourself guardians of the Earth, when really you're both just a bunch of cowards-" Amethyst ranted on, which was very much unlike her, especially when Garnet was present.

"How dare you question our intentions like that?" Garnet said, fists clenched, teeth gritted. "Do you really think we wouldn't fight if we could? You don't know what we've been through during the war, and you don't know all of the reasons this situation has us terrified. Don't you ever-"

"Don't ever what!?" Amethyst screamed back. "So now I'm the bad guy for wanting to protect my home? You seem to forget that I never knew what living on Homeworld was like, and I don't care what it was like because this is my home. Earth is my home, home to the billions of humans here, and home to what's left of the Crystal Gems. And don't forget this was Rose's home too, do you really want to break your oath to her of protecting and defending this planet at all costs? Will you really go that far?"

"Do you have a plan Amethyst?" Asked Pearl in a rude manner. "Do you have some complex and thought-out plan to somehow magically destroyed hundreds of thousands of Homeworld warriors within an instant? I seriously doubt that you even have the brains to do something like that anyhow."

"Oh so now I'm too stupid to do anything right? You wanna play that card? Fine by me. At least I knew how to move on after Rose died. Me! The emotional one! And you? All you ever did was lash out at me and Garnet and blame Greg for her death. You even blamed little Steven at the time he was born. A baby! Don't pretend like you're just little miss perfect all the time and I'm just a complete mess when really _your_ the one who needs to clean your act up and-"

"ENOUGH!" Garnet shouted, immediately ceasing Pearl and Amethyst's arguing. "What's gotten into you two? Amethyst, quit reopening old wounds and show some self control this instant. Pearl, Amethyst is right, we can't just give up before the fight begins or we won't have a chance of winning. Both of you swear to me you'll stop butting heads at every corner and you'll start working together for once so we can protect the Earth from invaders and keep the citizens safe. Swear to me right now, both of you."

Neither of them said anything to each other, they just started daggers at each other, teeth gritted, fists balled. That was the last straw for Garnet. The infuriated fusion summoned her gauntlets, grabbed both of them in each hand and slammed them together in a hard and loud headbutt against one another, then threw them to the ground in a fit of pure rage. The two gems gripped their heads in pain as tears immediately began flowing from their eyes from both the pain and the fear coursing through their bodies.

"SWEAR TO ME THIS INSTANT!" She snarled.

"We swear! We swear!" They cried out in unison.

"You better swear, or so help me I'll-" Garnet suddenly stopped and she got quiet, her aggressive behavior being replaced with a look of concentration as if she were trying to solve some puzzle. Or if she was seeing something with her future vision.

"What's wrong?" Pearl asked.

Garnet didn't seem to hear her, so she repeated herself before Garnet spoke again

"It's nothing, don't worry about it. You two, go to your rooms and don't come out until it's daytime tomorrow. **Now."**

Without another word the two teary-eyed gems went into their rooms, the feeling of the events that just happened still fresh in their minds and bodies. Garnet went over to the railing of the porch and leaned on it, staring into the starry night. Despite the beautiful night she was viewing, her mind was muddled with conflicting emotions and hidden pain even her split counterparts kept from each other. She needed to unravel, she needed to unravel within the solitude of her own room within the temple. She proceeded to her own room and she went and sat on a silk mat in the the center of her dark and empty room and began to meditate.

At first it seemed like meditating for a few minutes began to camp her nerves down, the voices in her head settling down as she entered her mindscape, as she showed Stevonnie once. Meditating seemed to be working, until the voices returned and the emotions hit her like a locomotive, and just like that Garnet came undone. In Garnet's place were Ruby and Sapphire, and you could tell the current situation and what just happened had really taken a toll on both of them.

Sapphire was silently crying to herself and covering her eye with her hands as to hide her tears from Ruby, but Ruby was even worse. Ruby was loudly and uncontrollably bawling, her eyes acting as burning, rushing waterfalls that seemed to have no intention of ceasing.

"What did we just do?" Sapphire asked, mainly to herself.

"We went too far this time," Ruby answered. "We hurt them, we scared them, we made them actual fear for us."

"Should we just give up? Is the situation really as hopeless as it seems? You're the one with future vision."

"I can't see. I can't see anything, and I'm not sure if I want to see it."

"What do we do? We can't just let Homeworld invade us like that, we have to fight."

"Of course we do," Sapphire said, wiping her tears away. "We have to, even if the odds aren't in our favor."

"And what about Steven?"

"Simple. We don't tell him anything yet. We just have to spend as much time together as possible before they come to Earth. We need to use the little time we have left to make sure he enjoys his last days."

"You sound like you have no hope whatsoever," Ruby commented miserably.

"Ruby, it doesn't take future vision to see the outcome of an invasion."

They grew quiet after that last sentence, and the only sounds between them were a chorus of hiccuping and silent sobbing. Then after a while of uncomfortable silence Ruby said with a smile "Well look at the bright side. At least we'll be remembered in Homeworld's history books."

Sapphire remained silent.

Ruby frowned. "Come on, where's my laughy Saphy?"

"You know, what you just said actually _is_ funny." Sapphire looked at her. "But I just don't feel like laughing right now."

* * *

"If you're really a Homeworld Gem, then you have to kill me."

"What!?" Jade said, completely stunned by his sudden words.

"You heard me," Steven said. "I am a Crystal Gem, and my entire family are Crystal Gems as well. You have to kill me, and you know it."

"N-no, I won't do it. The war's over, I have no reason to fight you or your family, whatever that is."

"You're sure? You don't want to kill me or my Crystal Gem friends?" Steven asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean no one harm, I swear."

"Then okay then."

"What was up with you wanting me to kill you?" She asked in a confused manner.

"Because you're a Homeworld Gem," he answered. "I thought you would pretend to be my friend until you met my friends, then you'd try to kill them. In fact some of my friends were Homeworld Gems and they did try to kill us, but they converted and become Crystal Gems too."

"They converted? What made them do that? Did you threaten them with being shattered if they didn't join you?" Jade asked.

"No. They just lived with us for a while and then they saw how much they liked living here."

"Do you think I could convert?"

Steven was surprised by her eagerness to join them. "Why would you want to convert?"

"Well..." She trailed off. "I wasn't happy being a Homeworld. I wanted to become a Crystal Gem and join Rose Quartz's rebellion, but..."

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me," Steven said. "You can join us."

"Thank you," Jade said graciously. "Now take me to your leader, I must meet Rose Quartz in person."

"Yeah, about that..there's something you need to know first."

So Steven took the next few minutes or so to explain what happened to Rose Quartz and that Steven was a gem-hybrid, the first of his kind. Then he explained what a family was and he told her about his father and Connie and all about the citizens of Beach City. After all that, he explained why she wouldn't be able to meet any of his family yet and why he was keeping this a secret family for now. After everything had been thoroughly explained to her so she would understand, she spoke.

"So you've been trying for months to heal me of my Corruption? And I'm the first one you've been able to heal?"

"Exactly," Steven confirmed.

"And if you have Rose Quartz's gem, can you use her shield?"

Steven answered her by summoning his shield and showing it to her.

"Oh wow," she said in amazement. "It's more beautiful than I could have ever imagined."

"Yeah, it's cool," he said as he dismissed it. " Plus I can throw it like a discus and it comes back to me. And I also have floating powers. When I'm really happy I can float and when I think bad thoughts I can descend, sometimes really hard. What's your weapon?"

Jade smiled. I'll show you." She reached into her gem and summoned a handle of a weapon. Then she quickly pulled it out with a cool-sounding _swoosh_ and revealed to be a 7 foot one-sided sword with an olive colored handle and a transparent jade colored blade.

"Whoa!" Steven exclaimed with stars in his eyes. "That's so cool!"

"Why thank you Steven," she said, dismissing her sword. "I thought you'd like it."

"I can't wait to tell Connie about this, she's learning how to become a swordsman," Steven said excitedly.

"I'd like to meet this Connie person, she seems nice," Jade said. "It's a shame that I can't meet her or any of your family yet though."

"Yeah, but at least we'll have alone time each other without interruption," he said, looking at the bright side of this current situation.

Jade smiled at the thought of spending time with her new friend and learning more about him and this planet she would live on for a while at least. "That sounds fun. So..." She trailed off, looking at the rest of the bubbles gem mutants that have her to be healed. "When do we start with the others?"

"Huh? You want to help me heal all the others?" Steven asked. "I thought it would just be me healing them."

"Well I know first-hand what it's like to be Corrupted. I could assist you."

Steven thought for a minute to himself, then smiled eagerly and said "Yeah, that could work! Alright, you can help me!"

"Okay then, lets start with this one." Jade reached for a bubble that contained an orange gem. Before she popped it Steven realized who the gem belonged to and quickly yelled "Not that one!"

Jade stopped herself and let the bubble float out of her grasp. "What's wrong?"

"That one is a Homeworld Gem I watched become Corrupt," Steven explained. "And she was trying to kill me even before that happened because she's a current Homeworld Gem. Her name is Jasper. It would be best not to start with her, at least until I get better at healing gems."

"I understand," she said. "Leave that one alone at all costs."

"Yep, you got it." Then Steven once more remembered his sleepover with Connie. "Well, actually I should leave so none of my friends get suspicious. It's nighttime right now and Connie's sleeping in my room, but the gems don't sleep, so I should leave and pretend to be asleep. I _really_ don't want them knowing about this."

"I understand, does that mean I have to stay here?" Jade asked.

"Yeah I guess so. I hope they don't come in here and notice your not bubbled anymore."

"Wait I have an idea," Jade said. "Us Gems don't need to be injured to retreat into our gemstones. We can do it manually, so you can just bubble me again. You can bubble gems, right?"

"I sure can. That's a great idea. Well, I guess this is goodbye for now," Steven said, sounding a little sad.

"Goodbye Steven. I look forward to seeing you again."

And in a flash of bright green light Jade retreated back into her gem. Steven reacted quickly and caught her gem before it hit the floor. He then bubbled the green gemstone in one of his Rose Quartz bubbles and let it float our of his hands to join all the others he had to heal.

"Goodbye Jade," he whispered quietly. "I will return to you. I promise."

* * *

Deep within the walls of the temple in her room, Amethyst was definitely taking the argument hard. She was lying at the top of one of her junk piles under a blanket, crying silently to herself as if she was afraid someone would see her and think she was weak. Which she already was according to Peridot, but nonetheless she still decided to hide her tears like she always tried to do.

Amethyst just couldn't get it. Yes, her and Pearl generally didn't get along well sometimes, but she always had a reason for her constant sarcasm and her reckless behavior. She always had reasons, some known and some hidden, but it seemed like they were always the wrong reasons when someone discovered what they were. She's trying her best to live up to Pearl and Garnet's expectations, but in the end all her efforts and attempts lead to nothing more than destroyed relationships and more pain that all she could do with was bury deep beneath herself and hope that it would never resurface.

But it always did.

Eventually Amethyst just stopped trying to be as good as those around her, but that yielded the same results as when she _did_ try. What's wrong with her? Why couldn't she do anything right, no matter what she did? Times like this are when Amethyst missed Rose the most. Rose loved Amethyst unconditionally for who she was and told her to never try to be someone else. Rose made her feel valued and loved, and never criticized her for just being herself. She never had to change anything about her behavior or conform to a standard for Rose. Rose was the only person who ever cared about Amethyst because she was... _Amethyst._

Then whenever Amethyst thought about Rose, she thought about the times when her and Pearl actually did get along all the time. They cared for one another like sisters do and nothing could separate them. Even Garnet was closer to her than she was now, and she didn't treat her differently, she just...changed somehow. Yes, the four of them were unnaturally close with each other and nothing in the entire universe could break that bond.

Except, almost cruelly ironic, a young man named Greg Universe.

Ever since Rose met Greg they had spent more and more time with each other, often leaving behind the gems she claimed to love so deeply. Amethyst decided that's when things went downhill. Pearl soon grew jealous of Greg's onslaught of affection from Rose, and as result she grew bitter towards others, specifically Greg, Garnet, but most of all towards Amethyst. Amethyst understand Pearl's pain, what with being created only to serve those above her, she felt like she always had to be the best at anything she did, a mindset that she still uses even today. Plus the fact that Pearl had actually fallen madly in love with Rose didn't help. At that time Amethyst guessed that she was an easy target for Pearl, thus explaining why she always got the brunt of Pearl's criticism and spite. Then Rose all of a sudden announces she's giving up her physical form to have a child? That was the last straw. Pearl's treatment of Amethyst was so horrible that Amethyst actually started to hide from her just to avoid her wrath. It was terrible, and even though you wouldn't know it from looking at her, but Amethyst is still slightly terrified of Pearl, even though her treatment has grown substantially better. Still though, Pearl and Amethyst were so close at one time, and within the blink of an eye all that love between them vanished.

These thoughts made Amethyst feel even worse than she already was. Her silent cries soon became loud sobs that echoed throughout the room. She didn't care if someone heard her anymore, all she wanted was for someone to tell her how to fix everything and make them how they used to be.

"All I want is my family back," she whispered miserably, mainly to herself, but also to the mounds of junk that surrounded her and the walls of her room, hoping that any of them would give her the answer for everything.

* * *

 **Jeez, a lot of stuff happened in this chapter. Steven healed his first Corrupted Gem, who seems eager to join the Crystal Gems and help heal all the other mutants as well. Then we had a huge argument between the gems that lead to Garnet crossing the line and sending them away in a violent manner, that had devastating effects. Anyhow, sorry this chapter took so long, my freshmen year at high school is a lot busier than I thought, and so is my personal life. I'm going to get working on the next chapter as quick as I can, which will reveal Pearl's thoughts like it did for Garnet and Amethyst, but I don't know when I'll update again. I swear to you guys, I** _ **won't**_ **give up on this story like countless other stories before it. Anyways, be sure to follow, favorite and review this story, I accept all kinds of feedback and criticism, so let me know how I'm doing so I know to write more and update quicker. And as always, goodbye and I'll see you in the next one. Lazuli out!**

 **P.S, in case I don't update soon enough, Happy Holidays! :)**


	4. Perspectives

**I know it's a little late but...**

 **Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy New Year! Yeah sorry I haven't been updating sooner, and I could give you every excuse I could think of but NOPE! And none of them are good anyway, so...here's another chapter.**

 **Oh and one more thing: to get a better understanding of this story, just know that in my story the event of episodes such as "Monster Reunion" and "Three Gems and a baby" never occurred (well the latter did but it's not currently snowing.) I hope that clears up some confusion. Anyway enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Atop one of many towering pillars of water sitting crossed-legged and shedding her own miserable tears, Pearl was suffering way beyond her usual amount of emotional trauma. She sat there in her own attempt at meditating to calm herself down, but she quickly saw how futile her efforts of a peaceful state of mind were and she resorted to bawling her eyes out in hopes of passing out from exhaustion so she could wake up and pretend that all of this was just a bad dream. Then she'd be able to continue her days as if none of those terrible things ever happened.

But there would be no forgetting any of it this time.

Pearl's normally quiet sobbing echoed off the walls of her room and she could hear her pathetic cries bounce back to her. Hearing herself hit rock bottom like this made Pearl cry even harder and actually made her question if life was worth living, something she had done only once in her life, and that was what seemed like forever ago. She really _had_ hit rock bottom if she had thoughts like that running through her head.

Pearl hadn't really noticed until that moment of misery and despair she was experiencing that she was actually a very needy person. She liked being the center of praise and affection and she always knew that, but deep down she knew how selfish it was but she never wanted to admit it. Just look at her whole life as a Pearl; they were always working for their often harsh superiors and so Pearl decided that the best course of action to survive and have anyone care about her was to continuously go above and beyond for everything she did. Sometimes it worked and sometimes not, but at least it was a plan. Then there was the Rebellion, something Pearl was made to fight for, and she met Rose.

Rose Quartz, Pearl's saving grace. You see, over the years Pearl worked with many different superiors and masters, each of them different in either a negative or positive way, but Rose was the first one to give Pearl a purpose apart from serving those above her. Rose gave her hope, hope that there was more to life and that it was meant to be lived freely and happily without anyone else governing over her choices. It was true, Pearls were basically house slaves for the elite, but Pearl was sick of it, as many of her kin were. This led Pearl to escape from the Diamond Authority and join the Crystal Gems, searching for freedom and happiness.

Then she messed up. She became close friends with Rose Quartz. With Rose being the brave and mighty warrior leader she was, it just made sense for Pearl to be drawn to her, simply a feeling she was used to when it came to authority figures. It was just who she was. As Pearl and Rose fought alongside each other for so long, Pearl began to have feelings that she didn't quite understand for Rose. It was completely alien to her and she couldn't find a rational explanation for it. That's one of the first new things Pearl learned from her Crystal Gem companions, something they all understood that most Gems didn't.

 **Love.**

Pearl had kept her love of Rose hidden from everyone including Rose herself, but the more she did for Rose "in her name", the more everyone knew the love she felt for Rose. Unbeknownst to Pearl though, it was actually very obvious and even Rose herself knew of it. Yes, Pearl was happy because she finally had a purpose greater than herself and it wasn't just the Rebellion. It was Rose, Garnet, and eventually Amethyst.

But that happiness didn't last. By the war's end all of Pearl's other Crystal Gem friends were shattered and it was just herself, Garnet and Rose, then they had found Amethyst at the Alpha Kindergarten. Then eventually Rose met Greg, Rose died and well...everything else was history.

Pearl sometimes found herself resenting Greg for taking Roe away from her. Pearl had dedicated centuries of devotion to both the Rebellion and to Rose herself, and all Greg had to do was sing a song and amaze her with his words, which took literally only took maybe a few hours to do. How was it fair for Rose to abandon Pearl after always being there for her even in times of war and peace? It just wasn't fair, not to Garnet, not to Amethyst and _especially_ not to Pearl. There were even times that Pearl deeply wished that Greg had never had his concert in Beach City, where he and Rose first met, and that way Rose would still be here and life would've been better for her and her friends.

Then Pearl would think of Steven, and how he would have never been born had it not been for their meeting at Greg's concert. Despite her often cold behavior towards Greg even now, Pearl still cared very deeply for the boy. Not only was he alike his mother in so many different ways, he himself was also a very sweet and selfless person that gained the love and respect from most who knew him. And it only took one look at him as a newborn for Pearl to instantly fall in love with him. He was perfect, and that was the very moment when Pearl vowed to be the best guardian and mentor to him that she could, but it wasn't just because he was Rose's son.

He was Steven, her little knight, and after Rose died, the love of her life.

Which is what made her current situation so much harder to bear. A full-scale invasion from Homeworld? They wouldn't stand a chance against those numbers plus their superior technology. Pearl was just going to have to soldier through the burden of knowing the apocalypse was soon coming and get her affairs in order before it came. She didn't have a whole lot of things she wanted to do, but the little she did want to do were important to her in ways that even Garnet and Amethyst could understand. She of course wanted to spend as much time as humanly possible with her little knight and let him know how much she cared for him, but there were a few...other things she needed to get off her plate. And she knew just where to start. After ceasing her crying, wiping away her tears and collecting her remaining self-dignity, she got up and leapt across the tops of the spires, heading deeper inside the temple until the familiar surroundings of her room disappeared and she found herself in another room where she was surrounded by numerous piles of relics, souvenirs and overall just a bunch of junk. She was in Amethyst's room.

It took Pearl a little while to find her fellow compatriot but even she saw movement under a big blanket on atop a particularly tall pile. Pearl put on the bravest face she could and used the happiest voice she could muster and called out to her. "Amethyst, is that you up there?"

"Go away Pearl," the purple gem responded miserably.

"I just want to talk to you," Pearl continued.

"Yeah? Well I definitely don't wanna talk to you right now. So beat it."

Pearl wasn't giving up. She went closer to the pile of junk and began to climb up the side of it, using the various objects as footholds and grips as if it were a rock wall. The nimble gem had reached about halfway up the pile when there was a low rumbling. A few seconds later the pile collapsed into a big heap of junk, taking the two gems down with it. Pearl quickly climbed out of the heap and gave her a quick look over to see if there was any serious damage. After deciding that she was fine she turned to Amethyst who had landed nearby.

"Amethyst, are you-" she began.

"I'm fine!" Amethyst snapped. "Now stop getting my room all messy and get out of here!"

"You're really complaining about me making a mess?" Pearl asked sarcastically, looking around at the pigsty Amethyst called a room. "Have you seen this place?"

"Just go away."

Pearl didn't say anything yet. Instead she sat down next to Amethyst, who was hugging her knees in comfort, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. They sat there like that for a while quietly while Pearl gathered her thoughts and tried to put them into words, until suddenly Amethyst broke the silence.

"Just say it."

"What? What do you want me to say?" Pearl asked.

"Whatever it is that you have to say. You're here now, so just get it over with and leave."

Pearl thought for a second to choose her next words carefully. Then she scratched those out and just said what needed to be said first and foremost. I'm sorry."

Amethyst didn't say anything so she continued. "You're just trying to do what's right, and I shouldn't have reacted the way I did, in fact I should've supported you. The situation seems hopeless, I still stand by that, but that doesn't give us the excuse to just give up without a fight. I don't want you to think I'm your enemy here, I'm on your side and I will stand with you when the fighting starts, no matter what. So what do you say to a little bit of one-on-one training with me? We can prepare as best as we can before everything goes down, refresh some of our skills and then-"

"Why do you think I want to fight so bad, P?" Amethyst asked before Pearl could go on about training any further.

"What?"

"Why do you think I want to fight so bad?" She repeated.

Pearl was confused by her question, especially since she had an answer that they both understood. "Because it's our sworn duty to protect the Earth and all it's inhabitants."

"Wrong answer. I never made that oath, that's what you, Garnet and all of the original Crystal Gems did. I mean that is one of my reasons, but definitely not my first one. Earth means something completely different to me than what It does to you and Garnet. This isn't just my home, it's not just Rose's. This planet is home to to the greatest love of my life, the reason that I'm going to fight with everything I have despite the odds. This is **Steven's home."**

Pearl was about to remind her who was actually there to save Earth the first time when Amethyst kept going. "Rose wanted to have Steven so bad that she gave her life so that Steven could exist. At the time I didn't understand why she wanted him so bad, none of us did, but I respected Rose's choices and helped look after the little runt while he grew up. And it sucks without Rose, believe me it does, but over the years as I watched little Steven grow up into who he's become now I finally understood why Rose has him." Amethyst took her finger and began to draw a picture of Steven in the dust of her floor, then she took a deep breath before continuing. "Gems are made to be one thing for their entire lives, always the same, never changing, and gems live immortal lives if they don't become shattered. We don't grow like humans do, we don't get to make mistakes and learn from them, and we don't get to be something other than what we were made to be. But humans...humans get to experience so many different things and they get to be whoever they want without anything holding them back. Humans are free to do anything they want and have anything they desire, and they get to _change,_ Pearl. They get to change Into anything and everything they can imagine. Rose knew that change was good for everyone and that all living things deserve to be able to change, and no being should ever take that power away from someone. She wanted Earth to still have that power, and she wanted Steven to have that power also. And after years of hoping and wishing that Rose would come back instead of him being here, I could finally see why Rose wanted it so much. And as long as I live, I'm going to make sure Steven...and all of the humans on Earth are able to do and become what they wish to be, and if I did defending all the human souls on this planet, keeping the promise I made to Rose, and keeping the promise I made to myself, then I'll die a happy gem."

Pearl had sat there and expected Amethyst to complain about how much Pearl rides on her for being as reckless and as negative as she is, but instead Pearl discovered a lot about Amethyst's inner self and feelings, the things that she never showed around others. Pearl was definitely unprepared for how this conversation was going, and so she had a difficult time trying to form a decent response to Amethyst's thought-provoking rant. Before she could come up with anything Amethyst spoke again.

"I bet you didn't expect me to say all of that, now did you?" She asked.

Pearl simply replied with "I was not."

"Hm, figures. I'm not the one who's really open to sharing my feelings with others, especially since people think they know me just after taking one look at me. The world isn't a very nice place if you're far from perfection like I am, not trying to be pitiful."

"Amethyst, I never knew you harboured...such intense emotions all this time," Pearl said in a surprised tone.

"That's a good thing."

"No it's not Amethyst. Why haven't you ever tried to talk to me about this?" Pearl asked, showing her newfound concern for her friend.

"Really? That's your question? Have you ever tried coming to me and seeing if I ever needed to talk? No, all you ever do is criticize me on how I look or how I act, and did you ever think that I was just okay with you just judging me all the time?"

"I never meant to make you so insecure about yourself, I just wanted you to be the best gem you could," Pearl said, trying to justify her less than perfect attitude towards Amethyst. "And I wanted you to be someone worthy of Steven looking up to."

"Oh so now I'm not good enough to raise Steven!?" Amethyst asked angrily, her tone becoming hostile and aggressive. "Are you saying that I'm nothing but an example of what not to be for Steven? Well news flash Pearl, not everyone can be Little Miss Perfect like you, least all of meeting! Does it really matter if my grammar is informal or not, or if I don't always make the best choices in life?"

"Amethyst I-"

"NO!" Amethyst shouted. "Stop thinking about all the ways I'm not like you and think about how everything judgemental you do to me affects my entire life! All you ever do is judge me without ever trying to figure out why I am who I am! You think just because you knew Rose the longest and you lived on Homeworld, that makes you better than me! And you know what I'll even admit it, you _are_ better than me in just about every single way, but that doesn't mean you know what's best for me. I'm my own person, with my own beliefs and my own way of doing things. Learn to respect me, or we'll never get along. Do I make myself clear, or am I being to "informal" for you still?" She asked after she had finished.

Pearl slowly nodded in response.

"Good. Now back on what we started talking about, we need to figure out some way to prepare ourselves in case Homeworld does decide to invade."

"R-right, of course," Pearl agreed. "We should wait for Garnet though."

"Yeah, got a point there," she replied.

There was an awkward pause between the two before Pearl said, "Well Garnet might still be mad, so we should probably just do it another time."

Amethyst solemnly nodded.

"I should go, leave you alone so you can..." Pearl trailed off, trying to think of ways to finish her statement when Amethyst let out a light chuckle before saying "I get it, and that would be a good idea."

Then Pearl started walking away, but not before Amethyst said "This conversation never happened. Pretend like it never existed...but don't forget any of it."

"I understand. My lips are sealed."

And with that Pearl was gone, leaving Amethyst alone once more to ponder the recent events and the talk they just had.

 _If only she knew. If only any of them knew what it's like being in my shoes._

After she was certain that she was alone, she let the tears that had been building up during her talk with Pearl finally fall, and while she silently shed those burning tears she began to quietly sing to herself.

"Lately I've been hard to reach, I've been too long on my own..."

* * *

"Come on Paulette, just give me one more chance!"

"No, as if I'd ever try going out with you again. I can't believe I ever like you," The characters from Camp Pining Hearts said on the TV.

Lapis and Peridot were sitting in the boat-turned balcony they made into the barn and watching vhs reruns of the old show. Today had been basically another slow and uneventful day, and so all the two gems did was watch CPH and occasionally walked their living pumpkin-dog, which they had lovingly named "Lil' Orange". At the moment Lapis and Peridot were curled up in a fluffy purple comforter with Orange watching the reality TV show drama unfold.

"Give him another chance? As if Paulette would ever do that for that scumbag Percy." Peridot noted.

"I would give him one," Lapis said. "Sometimes second chances are what we all need to show who we really are."

"Well...I see where you're coming from, but I still don't think Percy deserves Paulette's sympathy."

Lapis hummed in response.

Although she was engaged in both the show and Peridot's comments, Lapis' mind was elsewhere. Her thoughts were turned to the time she spent with Steven the night before, when they were talking on the hill behind the temple. Lapis was concerned, and even thought Steven said he was fine she knew he was hiding something. Something big.

Being trapped in a mirror for centuries, Lapis had come across many "owners" over the years, each of them mostly different from the last, so she knew people's personalities and behaviors pretty well. Her ability to read people was so good that it was almost involuntary like blinking, and her instincts were telling her that Steven was definitely lying when he said he was fine. It actually hurt Lapis a little that he didn't trust her with keeping a secret even after everything they've been through. After all she trusts him with her life, so why couldn't be tell her what he's been hiding from everyone?

Lapis just hoped that whatever it was wasn't putting himself in harm's way, she wouldn't know what to do with herself if something bad happened to him. Apart from Peridot, Steven was the only one she truly trusted on this planet.

Then there were the Crystal Gems. Sure Steven and Peridot trusted them and treated them as if they were family, and they always treated Lapis with some level of respect, but none of that even came close to making up for the centuries of being trapped inside the tiny confines of that mirror, where she was neglected and had no one to talk to for what at the time seemed like eternity. She resented them for putting her through all that misery and never even considering that she was in pain that entire time, and had it not been for Steven she might've been trapped forevermore inside that blasted relic. Yeah, there was no way she would be quick to forgive them for that. But Steven cherished them like there was no tomorrow, and even Peridot was developing friendships for them, so in the meantime Lapis would treat them well, until they cause any harm whatsoever towards Steven or decide Lapis needs to be imprisoned once more. Then there'd be Hell to pay.

Despite all of these terrible but justified feelings towards the Crystal Gems Lapis couldn't help but think back to what Steven said about different perspectives. He made them seem like heroes for saving this planet, and it appeared that that's how he viewed them. Lapis didn't personally have any kind of praise for anyone back on Homeworld, but she could piece things together and get a basic picture of why Steven held them so high, and it actually did make a lot of sense. Without them Mankind would've been wiped out and the was Earth destroyed, harvested and mined for resources for Homeworld's never-ending conquest of every planet they came across. It made sense, and Lapis knew that nothing would ever change Steven's feelings for the Crystal Gems, so she would do anything to protect and help them in times of need. For Steven's sake, and nothing more.

And then there was Peridot. Lapis' relationship with Peridot was definitely not perfect, but it was nowhere near as bad as it was with the Crystal Gems. Peridot kidnapped Lapis the minute she returned to Homeworld, then took her back to Earth and used her as an informant to put Steven and his friends in danger, not the best way to make friends. But nevertheless Peridot did try to make amends with Lapis and eventually they did, and since then they've been getting along just fine. Lapis thought Peridot was a little odd and weird at times but other than that she didn't put Peridot in a negative light. Eventually after living with her for some time now Lapis decided that Peridot was no danger to her at all and she was just following orders when she kidnapped Lapis, so there's really no reason to hold a grudge against her. In fact is seemed that Peridot wasn't a danger to anyone for that matter, so Lapis had nothing to worry about.

While she was thinking about all of this Lapis decided that it would be a good idea to just avoid the Crystal Gems for a while and just stay here with Peridot, clear her head and enjoy her new freedom.

And then this happened.

While Lapis continued watching TV she saw Peridot in the corner of her eyes grab her nearby tablet and fired it up, then began to surf the internet. She saw a few things that made her smile, chuckle, then a few seconds later her expression went from happy to blank. This expression was quickly replaced with one of pure terror and she turned to Lapis.

"Lapis."

"Yeah?" Lapis said distractedly.

"You need to look at this," Peridot said, shoving the device in her face.

Lapis sighed and pushed it away before saying "Peridot, I have no interest in human engineering, international politics or cute cat videos. Let me watch the show."

"No, this is serious. I need you to look at this," Peridot persisted.

With an exasperated sigh she said "Fine" and took the tablet from her and looked at the image on display. It was some weird spaceship-looking thing.

"Is this another alleged "alien flying saucers" that you and the rest of the world-wide web is so fascinated by?" She asked in a sarcastic tone.

"No this real, listen to this." Peridot looked at the news report under the image. "A couple of weeks ago several satellites from different governments picked up strange signals from outside the atmosphere in space. Then the satellites took pictures of what appears to be a giant spacecraft, unknown to every country in the world. After failed attempts at identifying the type of spacecraft, it has been decided the craft is one that is not of Earth and that it is definitely alien in origin."

"Yeah, so?" Lapis asked.

"No one on the entire planet knows what this is," Peridot explained. "Except me."

"Well then miss know-it-all, what is it?"

Peridot looked at the image, took a deep but shuddering breath, which actually kind of concerned Lapis. Then Peridot spoke.

"It's a Homeworld ship. There's no doubt about it."

"What!? Let me see!" Lapis leaned over to get another look at the ship. "Are you absolutely sure that's a ship from Homeworld?" She asked after realizing how serious the situation was.

Peridot grimly nodded, confirming their greatest fears. "I'm positive."

Panic set in, and Lapis began freaking out a little. "What are we going to do? What are we going to do!?"

"We have to tell the Crystal Gems," Peridot said as calm as she could, even thought she was doing a terrible job at hiding her own fear. "Right now."

"Whoa, wait a minute. We can't tell them now, they'd be asleep, "Lapis said, gesturing towards the night sky. "We should wait until tomorrow."

"B-but what if the ship attacks before tomorrow?" Peridot asked in a panic tone. "Oh my stars, they're coming to destroy us all!" She began to quiver with fear and soon she started hyperventilating.

"Calm down Peridot, calm down." Lapis put her hands on Peridot's shoulders to get her attention. "Breathe. _Breath._ "

Eventually Peridot's frantic behavior had ceased and she calmed down to the point where she was able to talk normally. "Okay. I'm calm."

"Now, here's what we're going to do," said Lapis. "Tomorrow the first thing we do is go over to where Steven and the gems live and tell them about..this situation. Then we can work out some kind of plan, okay? I can only do this if you're with me. Are you with me?"

"I'm with you," Peridot replied.

"Good. I know that this is...kind of scary, or horrifying for that matter, but for now let's just watch this show and not worry about any of this, okay?"

"I can't. I just can't do tha-"

"Peridot, I need you to do this for me. Can do this for me now?"

Peridot looked away for a moment, and Lapis was afraid that she would start freaking out again, but then Peridot looked back with uncertainty in her eyes and she said "Okay."

Then the two returned to watching the reality TV show that they loved, but neither of them could forget the terror that was still present in their hearts. Lapis was suddenly afraid and had the strong urge to protect everyone she knew, even the Crystal Gems. She didn't want anything to happen to any of them, especially Steven.

And for some odd reason the feeling was very strong for...Peridot.

Without another thought Lapis grabbed Peridot and hugged her close. The surprised green gem let out a shrill "eek!" at Lapis' sudden gesture, but then melted in her arms and returned the favor by lovingly hugging Lapis back.

"Peridot?"

"Yes Lapis?"

"Promise me you'll always be with me, no matter what happens?"

"I promise," Peridot said with a smile.

Lapis also smiled to herself, a single year rolling down her cheek, knowing an uncertain future lies ahead of here.

And she didn't want to face it alone.

* * *

 **Hope that was a decent chapter, be sure to follow and fav for more content, BLAH BLAH BLAH. Also give me feedback! I'm only 14 going on 15 so I'm not the greatest writer. Criticism is always wanted!**

 **Also that song that Amethyst started singing? It'll make appearances all throughout this story. It's a sad song, and it can apply to really every character here, especially if you read Separate Ways before this. I'll reveal the title when it's time ;)**

 **Anyway peace to all my fans and I'll see you in the next one.**


	5. International Crisis

**What up everyone? Lazuli's back with another chapter for ya face! At the end of the chapter I got something I need to ask you guys, but for now just kick back, relax and enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

It was just over two o'clock in the morning. The Beach house was silent, the temple was quiet and all was calm on that early morning. Except for a lone young boy, who was absolutely bustling with excitement and joy over the incredible never been done before feat he'd just accomplished.

He had finally done it. He healed a Corrupted gem.

Steven was still in awe at what he had done. All those weeks of failure and secrecy had finally paid off, but this was only the beginning. This was the first step in the right direction but there was much more work left to do. He would still have to keep his achievements a secret much to his dismay, but soon it'll all have been worth the wait. And he was about to give up, where would he have been if he did just throw the towel in? Not as happy as he was right now for sure.

Steven was so excited after he exited the Burning Room and returned to his homemade pillow fort that he almost tripped over Connie's slumbering form. It took him a minute remember why she was there and then he realized that in light of his meeting with Jade for the first time he had somehow forgotten that his best friend was staying the entire next week there with him. His pride was greatly lessened when he also realized that he had to keep his great success a secret from her as well, _and_ his father as well. Suddenly his fantastic deed didn't seem so fantastic anymore.

Steven mentally chastised himself for thinking such negative thoughts after something amazing just happened a short time ago, and so be decided that getting himself some rest ought to do him good. He tiptoed past Connie and retrieved his yellow pajamas. After he had undressed and put them on(which made him feel more than a little embarrassed) he layed down next to her on the soft and comfortable blanket fortifications that they were surrounded by. As he ly there Steven immediately began planning his next move. He would try to get to know Jade more and then continue on with healing all the other gem mutants that were captured. Maybe Jade would even offer to help him in his mission, which would give them time for their friendship to grow and Steven would need all the help he could get, especially since her wasn't planning on telling anyone anything soon, or at least until he had most of the Gems healed. It was a solid plan, in his mind at least.

Steven was kind of concerned though. It took him months to heal Jade from her Corruption, so how long would it take to heal the next one? Just as long? Longer? He didn't know much time he could keep this thing a secret or how long it would take to heal all of the other mutants before Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst found him out. He wasn't as concerned about Connie or his dad finding out as they would most likely support him, but he didn't want any of them getting hurt. And he didn't know Jade very well either. For all he knew she might still be loyal to Homeworld and was lying to get information from him.

Steven dismissed that last thought as just senseless paranoia. There's no way Jade was going to hurt him or any of the Crystal Gems either, she'd really have no reason to. Or at least, one that Steven could see. He was sure he could trust her, and so he would unless she proved herself untrustworthy, but in the meantime she was his new friend and he loved making new friends.

Steven's deep thinking of everything was slowly making him tired. Sleepiness soon overcame him and he fell into a deep slumber, imagining how great it would be to have an army of new friends after he healed them all.

* * *

David Fletcher was in trouble. His already stressful job went into something much more serious and terrifying. Well that's what being the President of the United States will do to you in times of crisis.

The day had started out normal, or normal for presidential standards. Go to an foreign country to discuss treaties and cooperative projects to become more connected, come back to the states to work out bills trying to get passed, approving or vetoing them accordingly, then go home to spend time with the wife and kids before going to sleep and waking up the next day to deal with tomorrow's issues. Simple.

Unfortunately that routine schedule used by every president before David was abruptly stopped a few weeks ago. He was working in the oval office on some to deal with conflicts in the Middle East when his secretary Nelly dropped a manila folder into his desk right in front of him.

David looked up from his work and asked, "What's this Nelly?"

"Sir, you need to take a look at this," she said in a serious tone.

David opened the folder and looked through its contents. They were photos, photos of...what appeared to be some sort of advanced spaceship outside the Earth's atmosphere.

"Why wasn't I informed of another lunar space mission? Get me NASA on the line, I never authors this."

"It's not NASA sir."

"Then get me someone from the UN, cause this is-"

"It's not the UN either sir. No one knows what this is, none of the world's governments have a clue on who this craft belongs to. There's been some rumors floating around..." Jelly trailed off, her eyes starting to fill with fear. This began to unnerve David and he started to get worried.

"What all do we know?" He asked.

"Not much of anything, but everyone was briefed on this."

"What do you mean _everyone?"_

"The Head of the CIA had everyone working in the White House briefed on this," she explained. "Even Robert the janitor was informed on this. You're the last to know about this."

David didn't say anything for a minute, he just looked through the photos again, a look of concern scrunched up on his face. Then he looked back up to Nelly. "You said there were rumors? Rumors of what?"

"Well, in our briefs they said that..." Jelly looked away, afraid and slightly embarrassed over what she was about to say. "They said that this craft was...alien in origin."

At first David was about to chuckle humorously and hand it back to Nelly when he noticed a symbol in the center of the ship, one that he recognized immediately. A look that can only be described as a kid of fear and disbelief formed on his face. He put his hand over his face for a minutes as he tried to form a solution but to no avail. Then he removed his hand and said "Get the world leaders online immediately. This has become a matter of international security."

"Right away sir." Nelly turned and was about to walk away when David said "And Nelly?"

"Yes sir?"

"I don't know what this'll escalate to, I really don't. But thank you for everything you do for me here. I don't do it as much as I should, but thank you for everything."

Nelly was taken aback, but she smiled and said "You're welcome sir." Then she went on her way to follow his orders.

David sat back in his chair and took a deep breath to collect himself. He needed to do that, he needed to do that because if his greatest fears were confirmed, then he wanted to make sure he said those words before...the world ended.

* * *

 **A few minutes later...**

"Ladies and gentlemen, we've got a serious problem," David said to the various world leaders who were communicating to each other via video chat.

"How big of a problem is this that requires all of our attention?" Queen Jezebel of England asked with her British accent.

"Yes President Fletcher, you know we only gather like this if a threat of international security is present," said the President of South Africa Akeem Saluun with his thick African accent.

"I understand everyone's concerns and I apologize for organizing this meeting on such short notice," David started. "But as a matter of fact we _do_ have such a threat on our hands. However, the severity of the situation is...well, simply much more severe than anything any of our countries have planned for."

The world leaders all expressed looks of concern and fear on their faces after me made his point clear.

"What are you saying Fletcher?" Francisco Hernandéz, President of Spain asked.

David hesitated, then took a deep breathe which further frightened the leaders before continuing. "The Earth may soon be invaded by what appears to be an extraterrestrial force."

Although all governments denied existence of alien life to the public, they were all aware and informed about the truth that intelligent life did indeed live in outer space and they were all ears on David's next words as the light of this situation was finally revealed.

"Just earlier today our satellites in space took photos of a strange spacecraft sitting just outside of the atmosphere, and it has been confirmed that no government or private company possesses a craft like this. It's been decided that this craft must be alien in origin and that whatever life on board must be hostile."

"Are you absolutely sure that this isn't some mistake, that this isn't some space trash or just a misidentified space shuttle someone created?" The German prime minister Steiner-Franz Derhachen asked.

"Yes, we could be worked up over a silly little mistake," The Queen added.

"Take a look for yourselves." David turned and nodded to one of the White House technicians, who began typing furiously on his government desktop computer. Within a few seconds the images taken from the satellites were sent to all of the world leaders, who stared at them with confused looks and quizzical expressions as they tried to identify the ship they were looking at.

Eventually the royal king of Great Britain George Henry-Edwards said, "I don't know what it is but what evidence do you have that proves this is an alien ship?"

"Look on the very front of the ship, where it meets in the middle, there's a symbol there. Do any of recognize it?" David asked.

The leaders took a minute to observe the symbol David spoke of, which was 3 small diamonds organized in a horizontal line, with the one in the center elevated slightly higher than the others. David could tell by their looks that some of them didn't know about the symbol, but some of them did and those people were the ones who finally understood what was happening.

"Oh my god..." Derhachen said in awe.

"What? What is it?" The Queen asked as she squinted at the image. "I've never seen such a strange marking before."

"I have," said Derhachen.

"As have I," added Akeem, nodded clumpy.

"What meaning does this symbol have?" King Henry-Edwards asked, confused as to why he didn't recognize it.

"Yes, I would also like to know," the Queen requested.

"And I," Francisco also said.

"Thousands of years ago," David began. "An extraterrestrial species, known as Gems, invaded Earth from their planet called Homeworld in hopes of colonizing the entire planet. Then soon after colonization began a group of radical Gems rebelled against their leaders, who were powerful beings known as Diamonds, and a civil war on Earth began between Homeworld forces and these radicals, who dubbed themselves the "Crystal Gems." All across the world ancient human civilizations allied with the Crystal Gems and drove the Hostile Homeworld Gems off-planet. The Crystal Gems suffered massive casualties during the war, which lasted at least a thousand years, leaving only a very small handful of survivors left at war's end, and they went into hiding of sorts and self-exiled themselves from mankind. The total number of Crystal Gems who survived and the whereabouts of their leader, Rose Quartz, are currently unknown, and since then there hasn't been any sign of Homeworld. Until now."

"My family has very ancient documents of these Gems recorded by my ancestors," Akeem said. "That have been handed down and kept safe for generations. This is how the South African government is aware of the existence of these Gems."

"We have records of our own also," said Derhachen. "And my ancestors were actually warriors who fought in the war against Homeworld, so we also have personal account of battles and Gem culture. "Rumor has it there are several governments with their own records, heirlooms and documentation of these Gems and their technology. I'm aware of a few other world leaders who are currently absent from this meeting that have such evidence."

"I am acquainted with some other world leaders as well, and even some we are allied with," Derhachen mentioned.

"The US government is also fully informed of the remnants of these Crystal Gems," David informed. "In fact to you leaders who weren't informed of these aliens, we'll be sending you everything we have to your agencies and your heads of security so you and your governments can be brought up to speed on this crisis. Then after all of you are fully caught up on this information, I propose that we should reach out to other governments, other countries, and spread the word out as quickly as we possibly can. Talk with your allies first, then move on to everyone else. Make treaties, form alliances, do whatever it takes to get as many countries' cooperation and support as you can. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm being very serious when I say that we may have another world war on our hands, only this time we're fighting for our right to exist."

"Another World War?" King Henry-Edwards questioned. "Did you even _know_ how devastating the first one was? We're lucky to have never had a second one happen, especially after the innovation of nuclear energy for military use and the tensions that arose in Central Europe in the 1930's."

"President Fletcher, are you sure the situation is as grim as it seems? Is this really going to possibly become an Extinction Level Event?" Asked Francisco.

David thought quietly to himself for a moment to think about the whole thing. Then he let out a low sigh before answering. "Yes I do."

"I trust your judgment," Francisco replied. "Just know that whatever happens, Spain with be by your side."

"You have my country's full support as well," Said Derhachen with a prideful smile.

You have ours as well."

"And ours."

"South Africa with stand with you."

Despite the grim situation they all faced David expressed his happiness and encouragement with a bright smile. "Your support is greatly appreciated. America thanks you all, and you all have my personal gratitude as well. And now that we're supporting each other, I advise each of you to prepare your military forces and whatever emergency services you can provide to your peoples, and since we have the location of these Crystal, we're going to get them to assist us in our fight. We will organize another meeting in 3 weeks after we've prepared most of our armies and after we gain more support from other countries. And tell the public that this ship is real, and nothing else. If anyone has anything they'd like to say before we close this meeting, speak now or wait until our next meeting."

When no one spoke up, David said "In that case this meeting is adjourned. God bless all of you and I wish you all the best of luck in your mission. Good bye."

And with that the camera feeds of all the world leaders were disconnected.

That was a few weeks ago. Now David Fletcher was being flown to the current whereabouts of the Crystal Gems, Beach City, Delmarva in hopes of convincing them to come out of hiding and assist the human race one more time against Homeworld if they would attack, which was a very high possibility at this point. Right now David's only hope was that they would lend a hand and maybe, just maybe the Earth would stand some sort of a chance against their possible doom silently and patiently looming above...

* * *

 **The next morning...**

Connie was awoken from her sleep by a strong smell that immediately drove the sleep from her body. She opened her eyes, yawned and stretched out across the blanket-covered floor, then when she finally completely woke up she got another whiff of the mouth-watering aroma. Eggs, bacon and what seemed to be sausage were cooking, the sounds of meat cooking and grease popping filling the air. Someone had been making breakfast.

Hearing and feeling her stomach growl with delight, Connie got up from the soft blanketed floor and made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she found her jam bud cooking the delicious meal for them. He was still dressed in his yellow pajamas but he was wide awake and greeting the day with a bright smile on his face, happily humming a cheery tune as he continued to cook their breakfast. When he noticed her come into the kitchen his face lit up with joy.

"Good morning Connie!"

"Good morning Steven!" Connie greeted back with the same enthusiasm as he did. "What's all this?"

"This?" He said. "Oh I just woke up a little early and decided that making a together breakfast for the two of us would be a perfect way to start the day. I hope you're hungry."

"I sure am," Connie replied, sitting down at the table where Steven had placed a fork, an empty plate and a tall glass of orange juice. "The delicious smell woke me up."

Steven let out a hearty laugh that warmed Connie's heart and he brought over the pan he was cooking on over to the table and used the spatula to slide some food into her plate: eggs sunnyside up, several sausages and a bagel with strawberry jam spread across it. Connie's filled with gratitude and was deeply touched by her friends, he had made her favorite breakfast.

"Wow thanks Steven, it looks amazing!" She exclaimed with diamonds in her eyes.

"No problem Connie, but I hope it tastes better than it looks," he said while he served up his own plate and sat down at the table next to her.

She took her fork and tried the eggs first, savoring the great taste of them as she took her first bite. Her face lit up and she started furiously chowing down on her friend's amazing cooking.

"Steven," she said between bites. "This is incredible!"

"Nah there not that good," he said after he took a bite himself. "Definetley not my best performance. They're a little underdone, the edges are too crispy-"

"Steven." She reached over and put his hand on his to reassure him, which surprised him. "Just stop it, they're perfect. Thank you."

There they sat like that, eyes locked, her hand on his, and that moment seemed like an eternity to the both of them. They both started to feel the blood rise to their faces yet neither of them moved away or went back to eating their food, because at that very moment both of them had a sudden burst of emotions and thoughts that none of them could control.

Then after a few nervous minutes later Connie realized her hand was still on his and quickly pulled away before returning back to eating her food, hoping that Steven didn't see the deep red blush forming on her face. Steven also awkwardly resumed eating his meal, keeping all of his own emotions to himself as well. A few minutes of painfully awkward later and the kids had finished their meals, and so Steven got up, gathered up all the dirty dishes and brought them over to the sink so he could wash them in the soapy water he had already prepared earlier. As he took the sponge and began washing them Connie also left the table to go by the sink next to him, then suddenly took the sponge from him. Steven was confused and his look told it all.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"You made me such a heavenly breakfast," she said with a smile, while also being secretly grateful that the awkwardness from before was gone. "The least I could do was help out a little."

"You don't have to do that Connie, I'm the one who does the chores around here. Well, sometimes Pearl too."

"Sorry not sorry, I'm cleaning these dishes," she replied as she started to wash them clean.

Steven chuckled a bit as he watched his friend wash the dishes. "There's no stopping you is there?"

"Nope," she answered, winking at him.

"Alright. Well in that case I'm going back to my room to get dressed." He said walking off back to his room while she finished up the dishes. While he was getting dressed and she was cleaning up, Connie thought about the way she felt earlier when she put her hand on his at the table. It was just supposed to be a reassuring gesture to let Steven know that his cooking was fine and that the deed deeply touched her as simple as that, but then it became something completely different when they locked eyes and held that position for that long. Connie was starting to get confused and mixed up over how he felt about Steven over the time they spent together. How did she feel about Steven? Did she just want to be his best friend? Or did she secretly want to become something...more than just friends.

Connie was feeling conflicted, and as all of these thoughts and emotions, both old and new, began to pile up in her head, she suddenly became deathly afraid of being around Steven before she sorted her feelings out. For instance, what if Connie decided she did want to become something more with Steven and she confessed, only to not just be rejected and have her heart broken, but what if that destroyed the friendship they had right now? Then she'd be left with nothing in this world, and she didn't want that to happen. She didn't want to lose not only her one and only friend, but she didn't want to lose the best friend she could ever ask for either. She was lost, and she had no idea what to do. Good thing he wasn't here right now to see the confusion, fear and panic coursing through her, otherwise being the super friendly person he was he'd definitely try to ask and see what was wrong. What would she even say to him then? She'd either have to come clean, reveal the whirlwind of emotions she was feeling about him, and accept his response, or lie to him, have him know she was lying, and them feeling hurt for her not being honest to him. Connie wasn't too fond about any of these choices to be honest. One thing for sure, she didn't want to ruin what they already had, even if that meant never being in a romantic relationship with him. For now she'd have to deal with it until she sorted out everything and finally understood how she felt about him.

"You almost done out there Connie?" Steven called from his room. "I'm all dressed and I'm about to start episode 27 of Under the Knife, okay?"

"Okay, be right there!" Connie called back, finishing the last of the dishes and draining the rest of the soapy water. After rinsing the excess soap from the sink she proceeded to Steven's bedroom to watch the show with him. As she went up the stairs and sat by Steven on his bed she just really hoped that she could her feelings under control around him so he wouldn't get suspicious. Then the show came on, getting Connie's mind off of everything and soon they became just two friends watching their favorite show, completely unaware of the events falling into place...

* * *

 **So there you go guys, the end of another chapter. So here's the question I wanted to ask.**

 **I just recently watched the newest Stevenbomb, and I have to say...Wow. It was a lot to handle, but it kind of changed things quicker than I wanted them to. So I'm going to ask you fans of mine this: Do you want me to incorporate things in the new episodes in my story so it'll make sense with the show? Or do you guys want me to just go with my own plan? I'll let you guys decide in the reviews, but I'll also be setting up a poll for the first time so you all can vote. I have ideas of my own I'd like to see in this story, but I have a few others as well if you decide to have me use the new episodes. That's all, no big deal. I'll leave the polls up for a week from tomorrow (tomorrow for me is Friday the 13th). I can't work on new chapters here until you all make your decisions.**

 **Anyways that's all. Peace to all of you, and I'll see you in the next one.**


	6. Tensions rise

**Okay so usually my excuse for not updating in a while is that I've been busy (which I have been honestly) or something, but this time it was just actually really hard to make this chapter. Some of you wanted me to continue the story how I wanted it to or others wanted me to be as accurate to the show as possible as far back as Out of this world" Stevenbomb. I decided to use the new episodes but it was very hard to incorporate all of that into this story, so I apologize. There is a bright side though, I think I know how I want the rest of this story to play out now, so I'm hoping chapters will be a bit more consistent and better quality overall. Anyway we've got a decent chapter today with a few different perspectives on things past and present and the return of an important character from my "Separate Ways" story here, so everyone just kick back and enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Greg Universe had been spending all of his time trying to forget the weird and scary events that occurred during his kidnapping from Blue Diamond a few months ago. Unfortunately trying so hard to forget made everything stay fresh in his mind.

Right now he was playing around with his guitar in his van, trying to brush up on some of his older songs but his mind kept wandering to everything that had happened. The entire fiasco was trippy more than anything, but it brought to light many things that he hadn't really ever thought about, and a few things that he had just never noticed before. Like how the Gems on Homeworld were so much more different than Rose and the Crystal Gems, which was expected anyway but not that different. He also thought back to when he was dating Rose and how he never reached out to her or tried talking to her about the rebellion that much. It was all in good intention of course, but that didn't make it any less regrettable for Greg. He should have asked her about it, or at least make make it clear that he was there for her to talk about it if she ever needed to. He should have made a better effort to be there for her, cause looking back on it now Greg thought he wasn't the greatest or most supportive for Rose. But now that was something he would just have to live with since Rose was gone. Now he'd never have the chance to make things right.

Then there was Steven to think about. He just wanted to get some answers about his heritage and all the things that Rose had done in the name of Earth, both the good and the bad if it all. In Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl's defense there were a lot of things they didn't want him to find out about the war, or life on Homeworld, or all the horrible things they had to do during the chaos of it all. Even Rose herself wanted to keep some things hidden from her son as to not paint her or the Crystal Gems in a bad picture. They all were so afraid of Steven being mortified of their actions or inspiring fear in his heart for them that they all decided to hide as much as possible from him in hopes of him never finding out the truth. Unfortunately that plan backfired so miserably that they were far past the point of no return that eventually they'd have to tell Steven the whole story, hoping and praying that it didn't change how he viewed his family, including Greg himself. There were things Greg knew that he kept secret as well, and that made him feel terrible having to keep such things from his own son. It felt like lying to him, which he was neither proud of or comfortable with, especially to people he cared about, but it was one of many promises he made when Steven was born. Even though he didn't like keeping things from the greatest person in his life it was a responsibility Greg had to deal with, no matter how much it burdened him. He just kept telling himself he was doing it to protect Steven, but the more he thought that the more harm he believed he was causing. This whole thing just didn't sit right with him, not one bit.

Greg stopped his guitar playing and gazed outside of the windshield of his van. The sky was a dark scarlet and magenta color, and the once bright yellow Sun had drooped down to the horizon and had become dark orange in color. He sighed to himself and set his guitar aside and decided to just go to sleep for the night in hopes of clearing his mind a bit. He layed down on his bare mattress on the floor of his van, wrapped himself up in his favorite red wooly blanket and closed his eyes to fall asleep. He layed there like that for a good few minutes, all cozy and comfortable in bed, eager to fall asleep.

But sleep never came.

Greg didn't understand it. He was tired and really in need of a good night's sleep, but he just couldn't fall asleep if his life depended on it. With a loud sigh he sat up in his mattress, threw off the blanket, and got to his feet. He opened the door to his van and stepped out onto the cold pavement of the car wash's driveway before sitting back down on the back of the van, observing the beautiful sunset on that boring and uneventful day. His thoughts from before returned and soon he found himself living in the past, when he was kidnapped by the grieving Blue Diamond.

The whole fiasco happened about 3 months ago, when Greg was first taken into space. The whole experience changed him, and definitely not in any good ways. Despite all the things leading up to his kidnapping, like the Rubies coming to Earth, or the Cluster being pacified for the time being, and even after everything that had happened with Jasper, Greg didn't believe that Homeworld posed such a large threat at the time. After all, everything Homeworld had sent their way Steven and the Crystal Gems always foiled their plans, every single time. Greg figured eventually Homeworld would just give up and leave them alone, but as it turns out the Diamonds believed Earth was still set for destruction via the Cluster, but what happens when they find out that the Cluster failed to destroy the planet? How would they react? This was a question that no one had an answer to and that scared Greg.

And what about the humans he had encountered at the Zoo? They were raised in captivity and brainwashed into blindly following orders from a voice in their head basically, never really given the option to make decisions on their own. That isn't living, that isn't right, it isn't...human. So far the voice had only given them instructions to do simple things like when it's time to play or go to sleep, but what if they were given more...violent orders? Like to turn on one another or to maybe they were forced to fight Homeworld's battles? They would naturally want to comply, so essentially they were all mindless slaves, puppets on strings being pulled by the Diamonds to do their bidding. It's the most inhumane thing Greg had ever heard of. It didn't seem like they had experienced any emotion other than happiness, and that was proven when they freaked out after Greg had rejected their..."chosen" ritual. They were absolutely devastated, overcome all of a sudden by these strange new emotions that hurt them to their very core, all because they weren't aware of all the different human emotions. Man, they would have a lot to learn if they ever made it to Earth, someone would need to be a guide to them and teach them what being an earthling is all about. Now that would be an interesting challenge to tackle.

Greg sighed to himself and got up from his resting spot on the floor of the van, slid on his vandals and closed the door behind him. He decided to pop in on the Crystal Gems at the house and see how they were doing. He was also kind of hoping that he could have some alone time with Steven and have a talk with him about the events that transpired during their out-of-this-world trek to Homeworld. He started walking to the house through Beach City. On his way there as he was walking through town he saw that Kofe's pizza parlor was still open. Then Greg got an idea that Steven would definitely like. He went into the parlor and went up to the front desk, where Jenny was working the late shift.

"Why hello Mr. Universe!" Jenny exclaimed with glee, face lighting up at the appearance of the older man. "What brings you here at such a late time?"

"Ah nothing much, was just on my way to see Steven and decided what the neck, might as well grab him a pizza on the way," Greg said, flashing the younger girl one of his signature smiles.

"Well in that case, what kind of pizza would you like?" She asked, taking a little notepad and pen, ready to take his order.

"I'll have just my usual. Large pepperoni with mushrooms to go please."

* * *

"Steven, Connie, we need to talk to you two."

Those were the words Garnet had said to the children when she called the group discussion that night. Steven and Connie were already in their pajamas for the night and were watching a film w more episodes of Under the Knife before going to bed when Garnet summoned them to the kitchen .The Crystal Gems, Steven and Connie all sat at the folding table they'd recently been using as a table for the kitchen, everyone sitting and staring at each other, waiting for Garnet continue. While they all sat their Steven had noticed something odd about the gems; they all seemed emotionally exhausted, as if they had had an argument earlier today, or maybe even before today. He saw something else in their eyes too, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. It almost resembled something like...fear, fear and nervousness. Pearl looked like she had been furiously crying recently, her eyes bloodshot and both her cheeks and miss were flushed. Amethyst's expression blank, almost cold, and her face was mostly obscured by her hair, making it hard for Steven to really read her expression. Garnet was stoic as usual and her shades were completely shielding her facial expression, but her body language told another story, with hardly any movement and whenever there was any it would be stiff and almost awkward-looking, giving Steven the idea that whatever she was about to say was very serious and that she was a bit unhinged as well. Their distressed demeanor made Steven very nervous and it wasn't hard for him to tell that Connie was harbouring the same feelings as he did in that moment. Steven mentally prepared himself for some _really_ bad news.

"Now children, we all know that this last year has been pretty...exciting..."Garnet started. "..What with everything with the Cluster, fighting against Jasper, and our little trip to Homeworld, so let me just say this. I am very proud of the both of you for how well you've responded to all of that chaos and how far you've come in your training. You've greatly exceeded all of our expectations and we couldn't be more proud of you two."

Steven hated how Garnet was trying to sugarcoat the discussion by complimenting them, it just made him feel like she was lying to them or that him and Connie wouldn't be able to handle whatever it was she was going to say. It was almost as if the gems didn't trust them, despite everything they've been through.

"However," Garnet continued, adjusting her shades a bit. "Something's come up recently, something big. We didn't want to tell you kids sooner because we didn't want to worry you or have you do something rash without us, but the situation has changed, so here's why we've been gathered here tonight." She took a deep but shaky breath, furthering the kids' concerns, and said, "We believe someone's been trying to restart the Prime Kindergarten."

The kids gasped at the news and looked at each other, both sharing similar expressions of worry and fear. If this was really true then it could be an endless list of scenarios that could occur, and each one of them did nothing but spell disaster for the Crystal Gems.

"What does that mean for us?" Steven asked, turning back to the gems.

"We have reason to believe it means that another Homeworld Gem or gems have made it to Earth," Pearl explained. "And not friendly ones either."

"Well why would they be trying to restart the Kindergarten?" Connie asked. "What good would any of that old technology be?"

"Have you ever been there before? Do you know what used to go on there?" Asked Amethyst, not looking Connie in the eye when speaking.

"No, but Steven's told me about it and Buddy's journal showed us some pictures of-"

"Then you don't know how bad this is," the purple gem said in what almost sounded like a cruel tone of voice.

"Yes, getting the Kindergarten operational again would cause many dangers to arise," Pearl added. "But the fact that there's a Homeworld presence on Earth that we don't know much about or what their intentions are? That's a huge risk in terms of protecting the Earth. If they're trying to restart the Kindergarten we need to figure out why and how they're doing it."

"Then we should have a steakout!" Connie suggested. "We could all just hide somewhere in the Kindergarten and-"

"No," Garnet said flatly. "We can't have either of you involved in this matter." As she spoke those words Steven noticed that Pearl and Amethyst both gave Garnet looks of anger or disbelief after hearing her words, but Garnet either didn't notice or she ignored them and continued. "We aren't telling you so you can get involved, quite the opposite actually. We're telling you because the three of us will be conducting our own investigations into this matter for a while until we rule out whether there really is a Homeworld presence on Earth or not. I need you both to promise that neither of you will get involved with this in any way, shape or form."

Steven couldn't believe the words he was hearing. They were being told about something that was super important, possibly very dangerous to the people of Earth, and they were expected not to do anything to help? No, that wasn't going to fly with Steven, no way.

Evidently Connie felt the same way, as she tried to reason with the stoic gem."No way, there's got to be some way you can let us help. We don't necessarily have to actually be there with you in the Kindergarten. We could observe from a distance with surveillance cameras and-"

"No Connie, you won't be allowed to do anything of the sort," Garnet interrupted. "There's no way we can let you do that."

"Garnet," Pearl chimed in. "Come on , let's think about this. I'm sure there's a way they can-"

"I said no, period."

"You can't do this to us!" Steven protested in frustration. "You need to let us help, this is our home after all, you can't just tell us about something this major and expect us to sit by and do nothing about it!"

"Yes you can and you will, and of discussion," Garnet said, crossing her arms.

"No Garnet, I'm with Steven and Connie on this one," Amethyst said, looking up at her. "We have to let them help or-"

"I don't have to let them do anything and I won't, so butt out," Garnet ordered, a bit of anger suppressed in her voice.

Then Pearl said, "But Garnet-"

"Enough! I don't want to hear another word from you two!" She shouted, talking to Pearl and Garnet. Despite the dirty looks they both gave her they stopped speaking and became silent observers in the discussion.

"Garnet, we won't get in your way, just let us help," Connie pleaded, hands clasped together. "Please..."

"Yeah Garnet, why won't you-" Steven began before Garnet cut him off.

"You don't need to know why, so just promise me that you won't get involved. That's all I ask for."

Steven by this point was getting frustrated. "If you didn't want us getting involved then why tell us anything? It's like your trying to upset us and then making us feel helpless about the whole thing! Why are you telling us all this?"

Garnet said, in a serious and almost threatening tone, "Steven, you need to get rid of that tone of voice with me, right this instant."

That's it, Steven was about to lose it. He was about to start screaming up a storm, when Garnet suddenly said in her normal voice, "And go answer the door, both of you."

At first Steven and Connie were confused until a few moments later when a series of knocks at the screen door were heard. The children looked at each other for an instant before springing off their chairs and running over to the door, only to find someone completely unexpected come through the door.

"Heya, kiddos!" Greg Universe proclaimed, holding up a pizza over his head like he was beholding it to the skies above. "Mama mia, kids I've brought a pizza!"

"Dad!" "Mr. Universe!" were the happy and cheerful cries that came from the children as the middle-aged man bestowed their favorites dish, which they happily accepted with gratitude.

"Thanks Dad!" Steven said, completely forgetting how upset and helpless he had felt only a few seconds ago.

While the kids were preoccupied with Greg's surprise visit, Pearl learned over and angrily whispered "I thought you would tell them _everything_. You said you'd talk about the invasion and our...plans, so why didn't you?"

"Yeah what gives G?" Amethyst also whispered.

"I didn't tell them," Garnet began. "Because they don't need to be more worried than they already are. I knew that Greg would be stopping by too, and I thought he should be aware of the whole story, not Steven and Connie. We don't know what'll happen, so let them enjoy whatever time they have left, they deserve it."

Pearl and Garnet leaned back away from Garnet, understanding and agreeing with Garnet's choice. It was the only option it seemed, and for now that would do good for the time being.

"What brings you here at such a late hour Mr. Universe?" Asked Connie.

"Well I was just cruising around town minding my own business when I remembered that you kids were having a sleepover here, so I decided to crash this party with the greatest Italian dish in the world," Greg explained casually acting like this wasn't random at all. "I hope that was alright with you three," he then said, directed towards the gems, who were still sitting at the table. It took him a minute to realize how gloomy and unsettled they seemed, but when he did his cheery demeanour was replaced with one with concern. "Was this a bad time?"

"No, not at all," Garnet said nonchalantly. "This was perfect." She looked back to the kids and said "You two can take the pizza up to Steven's room and eat while you watch your show."

Holding the pizza in his hands Steven suddenly remembered what they had been previously discussing, and was about to object when Connie said "Thanks guys, we'll be watching Under the Knife if you need us," before he could say anything and led him back to their pillow fort to continue watching their show.

After the children went away Greg looked at the gems and asked "Is something wrong?"

Garnet replied by gesturing one of the now empty seats at the table. "Take a seat Greg. We have much to discuss."

* * *

Despite Greg's cheerful surprise visit, Steven couldn't shake the negative feelings in regards of the Gems he had from earlier as he was eating pizza and watching his favorite show with his favorite person in the world. He knew he should've been more understanding towards the Gems and just listen to them but he had been doing that all his life without knowing hardly a thing about them. He was tired of _always_ being in the dark with things all the time and he wanted some answers. Even though he so desperately wanted to get the answers he'd been hoping for, he recalled the last time he had tried to get them on his own; his father was kidnapped by a _Diamond_ and imprisoned on a strange faraway planet and Steven had to go rescue him.

Although it seemed Greg wasn't in any real danger during their great space odysseus and every one had gotten back safe and sound, Steven felt guilty for getting everyone dragged into all of that chaos all because of his anger and mistrust for the Gems. He didn't mean to endanger his family, he just wanted to know the truth about Pink Diamond and...his mother. After everything Steven had been through, after proving himself to the Gems time and time again, he felt like he deserved to know the whole story instead of learning piece by piece every time something bad happened when it was just randomly revealed at the most inconvenient of times. Then the one time he was able to find something out on his own it nearly cost him the lives of almost everyone he held dear to himself. He wanted answers, no doubt about that but not at the cost of people he cared about.

All of these thoughts were conflicting Steven right now because he was debating on whether he should disobey Garnet and follow them on their investigations to the Kindergarten. He would be careful as to not get caught and he just wanted to see what would happen if he _did_ follow them. No one would ever find out and he would finally know something without the Gems trying to hide it from him for once.

And it's not like he would be alone if he decided to follow the Gems, Connie would be there as well. He was almost sure that Connie shared the same feelings for the situation as he did and he knew that regardless of anything that came their way, Connie would have his back and he would have hers. They had both proven to be a powerful duo whether they fought as Stevonnie or as individuals and they were both eager to go on more missions with the Gems. After all it's what they've been trying training for for so long and they truly believed they were ready for anything at this point.

Of course it would take convincing for Connie to disobey the Gems, after all she'd never disobeyed anyone's instructions all her life, which wasn't necessarily bad but in this case if Connie wanted to help she would have to make her own decisions. Steven felt guilty for having to make Connie go against everything she believed in but it needed to be done on order to get involved in...whatever Homeworld presence Garnet believed was on Earth. With guilt already in his heart and a strong sense of dread in his very core, Steven spoke.

"What are we going to do about this, Connie?"

Connie looked away from the TV and set down the slice of pizza she'd been munching on. "What do you mean?"

"I mean about what Garnet said," he clarified. "She's telling us that there might be a danger to Earth and she told us not to get involved? That doesn't sit right with me at all."

Connie sighed. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but we can't do a thing about it. No one's gonna let two kids get involved in something as serious as this, even with all the training we've gotten."

"You're right we _are_ just two kids," Steven agreed. "Two kids who've fought all sorts of gem mutants and survived just fine. Heck, we even defeated Jasper as together as Stevonnie that one time! I'm pretty sure we can take care of ourselves just fine by now."

"Well all that's true," Said Connie, thinking about how far they've both come. "But you heard the Gems, they don't want us getting involved. They've got everything under control, we just need to listen to them. And..." She began to nervously twirl her finger around her long, dark hair. "I've just recently gained their trust. I don't want to break their trust already, not after how far I've come."

Steven hummed in agreement, understanding exactly where she was coming from. He used to be the same way, but within the last year he'd become fed up with all the secrecy and lies the Gems had put him through and so he decided that the only way he would get the answers that he so desperately wanted was to go find them for himself. "But they're hiding something, they always do and I'm done with playing along with their games. I'm going to the Kindergarten, with you or not." He then reached his hand out and took her own hand in his palm. She looked down at their interlacing hands, a deep blush forming over her cheeks and then back into Steven's eyes with a caring look that warmed his heart a bit and began to feel his own face become hot.

"But I want you to come with me."

His argument seemed to be somewhat persuasive, as Connie began to furrow her face in thought for a moment, mentally weighing all of her options in her head when eventually she sighed and looked back at him with a confident smile.

"Alright Steven, I'm with you. If we're gonna do this though, we're going to need some sort of plan. You have any ideas?"

"Don't worry, we'll come up with something, but we're going to need help."

"Really? Who would we ask?" Connie asked.

Steven smiled. "Don't worry, I know just the person. Would you like to meet her?"

* * *

It was just another day in the Prime Kindergarten; dark and gloomy, an eerie silence attaching itself to the entire location, the area completely devoid of all organic life as far as the eye could see. Most people thought the place was depressing to look at and some were even scared when they were in the Kindergarten by it's scary and isolated location.

The Commander absolutely loved all of it.

He stood there high atop one of the high canyon-like walls overlooking the long and wide cavern that was the Kindergarten. Here he could see the place completely in all of it's lifeless glory, including the many holes in which Amethyst soldiers had emerged all those years earlier during the first war for this miserable excuse of a planet. The Commander took pleasure in viewing the achievements Homeworld had completed while inhabiting the Earth; all the structures and pieces of technology they had built here and the first time a Homeworld-controlled planet has not one, but two Kindergartens built here? It was just marvelous, and the smile on his face reflected the pride he felt inside himself.

Then the Commander frowned after thinking about everything they had lost the last time they were here; they lost the Planet itself to those pesky lowlife rebels known as the Crystal Gems, all the time and energy wasted building and using weapons against said rebels instead of focusing on expanding and gaining more territory, and above all else...they lost a Diamond, one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy, a leader to all but also a friend to almost all who met her. It was tragic, no doubt about that, but what was even worse was the undeniable fact that the all-powerful Homeworld Empire had lost a war to a bunch of inexperienced and insignificant rogues. Needless to say, it was embarrassing and demoralizing for all of Homeworld, and their failure was forever written in stone for all to see.

But this time things would be different. This time Homeworld would take this planet as their own and exploit all the resources it had to offer and expand their empire after colonization here, and no small ragtag army of rebels could stop them this time. The Earth would be theirs for the taking and so it call be taken.

The Commander's prideful smile returned as he observed his garrison of Amethyst and Jasper soldiers and Ruby laborer gems unloading the various small cargo ships full of weapons and equipment onto the landscape while his Bismuth engineers began constructing a base of operations and his team of Peridots setting up the "special defenses" in the event of an attack at any point while being stationed here, despite the odds of such a thing being so incredibly low as it is. He was well aware that there were still remnants of the Crystal Gems residing somewhat nearby from the Kindergarten, so an attack was still possible and be wanted to be ready to defend against him if they did anything. Well even if they did do such a thing, the special defenses in place would destroy them and if they managed to evade the defenses, there was an entire battalion of Gem soldiers of all kinds ready for anything that came their way. The so-called "sworn protectors of Earth" wouldn't stand a chance against Homeworld's numbers stationed here or their new and improved technology far more advanced than what was used during the first war here. Yes, the Commander was very excited to crush what little remained of the Crystal Gems once and for all. Suddenly a voice calling to him broke his train of thought.

"Commander! Commander!" An Amethyst soldier ran was running towards him. He turned to the soldier once she reached him, painting loudly and annoying him very much so just with her presence. Couldn't she see that he was in deep thought before she interrupted him?

"What is it?" It better be important," he said sternly.

"Sir." The Amethyst pulled a small metal disc called a Holo-disk from a pocket on her uniform and held it out to him. "It's from someone back on Homeworld."

"Oh what is it now?" He asked himself in dismay and took the disc from her. He was about to hit a small button on the side of the disc when he saw that the Amethyst was still standing there. "Is that all?"

"Y-yes sir!" She said before giving him a salute and running back to her task with the other gems.

Once the Amethyst was finally out of earshot the Commander hit the button and a small 4-inch shimmering blue figure projected from the disc. Even though the projection made the figure completely blue he recognized the person immediately.

"Holly Blue," he said with a formal smile, trying not to show his annoyance for her constant pestering that kept hindering their progress. "So nice to hear from you again. I'm proud to say that everything is going according to schedule here and-"

"Quit blabbering about progress to me," the figure interrupted with her trademark snarkiness that everyone hated most about her. "I'm not interested in progress, I believe I've been checking up on you enough to know how far you've come along, that's not why I'm calling you now."

The Commander frowned. "Then why are you calling me now?"

"I just wanted to remind you how much I'm putting at risk for deploying you on this mission," Holly Blue said. "You haven't been deemed suitable for conflict by the Diamond Authority yet, so I'm emphasizing how important it is that you do your job as quickly and as quietly as possible as to keep the Diamonds from learning about this secret mission."

The Commander gave her the most reassuring smile he could muster using all of his patience and said "Don't worry, I'm doing everything you've instructed and taken every precaution you specifically mentioned. Nothing's going wrong, trust me."

"See that's the thing, I _don't_ trust you. Don't forget who you're talking to, remember that you are still _my_ experiment. I own you, and if your errors somehow come down on my head there'll be some serious consequences. Am I clear?"

He bit his lip in order to not give her the satisfaction of seeing his seething anger at the moment. "Crystal."

"Good," she said with a wicked smile. "And one last thing. I gave you the title of "Commander" for this mission, but just know you are anything but. You are simply my plaything, my creation, and you will never be anything more."

Fed up with this conversation already, he clenched his teeth and asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, that will be all," Holly Blue said condescendingly, giving him two claps for good measure. "Keep me posted on anything new and continue with your work."

"Will do."

"And one last thing," said Holly. "You better not mess this up for me, Soren Spessartine. You will regret it."

And with that last statement the Holo-disc went dark.

* * *

 **For those who read "Separate Ways" you know who Soren Spessartine is already. I'm excited for Soren returning to the scene as I've got some wonderful ideas on how he'll develop over the course of this story and how he'll interact with others on both Homeworld's side and the Crystal Gems' side, so don't worry Soren will be a great addition to the story.**

 **Also, after I finish this story I might take a break from my SU Universe for a bit and maybe start either a Star vs. The forces of Evil story or a Gravity Falls story, or maybe even both. What do you guys think?**

 **Anyway as always make sure you follow or favorite this story or both, and be sure to drop a review below and tell me how I'm doing so I know you guys want more chapters and I'll see you in the next one. Peace.**


	7. Things to come

**I know, I know, I haven't updated in over a year. So much has happened in my life and in SU that it's crazy, but I can't tell you why I was absent for so long, so I'll just say...** **GENERIC EXCUSE! My house flooded, my head exploded, I had to hav a dinner-date with Rebecca Sugar that lasted for over a year. No but seriously, I'm back, and I'll be updating between 1-2 weeks from now on, and just as a refresher, since SU has changed so much, here's a note: this story directly takes place after "That will be all", and "Monster Buddies" never happened. So this happens in a completely different continuity than the show. Just to let you know. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter, and just so you all know; I missed you all. Very dearly. Okay, enough sentiment, ON WITH THE CHAPTER!**

* * *

Greg Universe just wanted to stop by, give the kids a pizza like the cool parent he is and then head back over to the Car Wash in hopes of asleep after that. Not too much to ask for.

Instead he was called over to the dining room by the Crystal Gems and was told some of the scariest things that he had ever heard. Like the whole world ending for instance.

The first had told him everything; about Garnet's belief that there were attempts of reactivating the Kindergarten, how the Gems were afraid of a possible invasion from Homeworld and how they were certain that if Homeworld were to invade, it would mean the extinction of all organic life on Earth, an undeniable truth the Gems had kept from the children as to not scare them anymore than they already were. They had also kept the kids from knowing about the Communication Hub attempting to come back online because there was no easy way to get there in case one or any of the Gems were to travel there since Sugilite had accidentally destroyed the Warp Pad there.

Garnet also went into full detail about how hopeless the whole situation was and that if the worst case did of invasion did occur, there would be nothing to stop the invasion from succeeding and that they would all be killed upon Homeworld's arrival. There was nothing they could do about it.

During the entire conversation it was Garnet who did most of the talking, with Pearl occasionally adding her own input or thoughts on everything, but Amethyst remained silent the whole time, as did Greg while he was processing all of it. Eventually once the conversation concluded Greg had mentally summed up the worst news he has ever received.

Homeworld could invade the Earth. If they did, it would mean certain doom for all of Mankind.

Greg couldn't do a thing about it. Everything he cared about would cease to exist.

Everyone he knew. Dead.

His family. Dead.

He would die.

And so would his son…

He had to pinch his arm to convince himself that he was in fact completely wide awake and that he wasn't dreaming. It wasn't a dream. This was real.

And be didn't know what to do.

"Greg," Garnet said softly, trying to bring him back to reality. He had been overwhelmed with so many different emotions and thoughts that eventually he had spaced out for a bit, a blank look on his face. Soon he started breathing heavily and he began to breathe faster. He gripped his chest and a great look of fear formed on his face. Greg was hyperventilating.

"Greg," Pearl said softly, reaching over and taking his hand in an attempt to calm him down. "It's okay, breathe. Nothing's happened yet and who knows? Maybe Homeworld isn't invading after all."

"Oh my god..." Greg said between breaths. "We're all going to die. We're all going to die!"

"Calm down Greg," said Garnet. "I understand how hard this is for you to hard right now, but-"

"Hold up a second," Greg interrupted. "You understand how I feel? You don't know what it's like to be human, so how on Earth can you say something like that?"

"Greg no, you misunderstand," Pearl said, trying to reason with him. "Garnet simply means-"

"No!" Greg snapped back, getting angry all of a sudden, much to the shock of the Gems. "You listen to me. Us humans don't live for thousands of years at a time. We only get 5 or 6 decades usually, so we have to live as much as possible before we die, which is something you Gems wouldn't understand. You think you can understand what this feels like to me? Say those same words back to me when you know what it's like to have a clock counting down the number of days you have left for all your life, or when you find out that your lives are coming to an unexpected end and so will everyone else you know. Tell me how that feels, but I doubt you can since you guys are basically immortal. Don't ever tell me you understand how I feel, especially when it's about something this huge!"

The dining room fell silent following Greg's sudden outburst, both Pearl and Amethyst looking quite hurt from his words and starting to form tears in their eyes while Garnet stayed silent and gave him an expressionless look.

Feeling instant regret for everything he had just said, Greg's angry demeanor quickly softened and he wished he could take it all back. "Look I'm sorry I lashed out like that, I'm just-"

"No," Garnet cut off. Then she did something that took Greg by surprise. She reached up to her face and removed her shades, revealing all 3 of her eyes full of tears and a deep, hollow look that both deeply scared Greg and made him feel even more regret than he already did.

"You really think you're the only one who's got something to lose?" She asked in an exceedingly sad tone, her voice occasionally breaking. "Have you any idea what I've been through? What we've been through, and what we're going through now?" When Greg didn't answer, she continued. "Let me put it to you like this. Imagine people looking at you and just believing everything about you is wrong just because you're different, okay? Then someone comes along the road and provides you with all the love, friendship and support you always wanted, someone who inspires you and makes you strive to be a better person every day, then imagine that person just...gone. Now you have to try to go one without that person anymore and raise their son as a promise that you made, but also know in your heart that despite everything you do, you will never be able to live up to those expectations. You think we like not being able to die on our owns like humans do? I beg for death to find me most nights. I want to be able to die of natural causes or peacefully in my sleep instead of being immortal and living with the belief that nothing about me is great or perfect like Rose was, knowing that my old friends from the Gem War are all either dead or Corrupted and that I'll never see any of them again. You think death is such a horrible thing that's always hanging over your head? I will never know what that's like unless I am shattered, so until that happens I'm stuck with some of the heaviest burdens you've ever seen. I can't die, but you can, so don't you ever tell me I don't understand humans...when you don't understand us Gems."

Greg could not believe everything he had just heard. Garnet felt like that? The same Garnet that was completely fearless and rarely felt anything other than happiness and anger? How could he have lashed out at her? His concerns and worries seemed like nothing in comparison to what Garnet had kept buried this whole time. He just couldn't wrap his head around all that, and that made him feel even more guilty because it meant that he had been misunderstanding her for all these years and he had always believed he was the one who was misunderstood. Talk about hypocritical.

"Garnet...I'm so sorry. I had no idea, I-"

"Stop right there," Garnet said in her normal tone of seriousness, wiping away the tears from all of her eyes and putting her shades back on. "I didn't bring you here just so we can have another pointless conversation about feelings and all that, we're discussing a very important situation, and nothing more. Understood?"

"Y-yes Garnet," Greg replied with shame, giving in to her attempt at walking off her emotions as to stay in topic.

"Now that you know everything about what's going on, here's what we plan to do," Garnet continued. "Pearl, Amethyst and I will be leaving shortly to go check up on the Kindergarten to see if there's a Homeworld presence there and if there is we're going to see if we can do anything to stop them from restarting the Kindergarten. We've talked to the kids already about all this and we've decided that they won't be coming with us on this mission due to its high level of danger in case Homeworld has actually made it to Earth already."

"You told them about all this?" Greg asked in surprise. Surely the entirety of the situation was a bit much for the kids to be concerned with.

"Yes but they don't know how serious it is, but they know enough for now. Steven wasn't too thrilled with sitting this mission out, not one bit."

"Really? I thought he would understand why he wasn't going."

"Yes indeed, he was rather agitated about the whole thing," Pearl added. "In fact I haven't seen him with that much anger since...well, ever actually. He just really wants to help, and he's not happy about being benched while we do all the work. He gets it from his mother, so it's understandable."

"Yep, that sounds like Steven alright," Greg said in agreement. He hesitated before asking his question but he had to ask. "When are you guys heading out?"

"Right after you leave," Pearl answered, folding her arms across her chest.

It got quiet again as the Gems stared intently at Greg. It took him a minute for him to realize that they were expecting him to leave so they could go about their business.

"Oh, my bad," Greg said after finally getting the message. He stood up from his chair and quickly made his way to the door without saying a word and he had opened the screen door already when Garnet spoke again.

"Greg," she called out.

Greg halfway around with the door wide open and faced the Gems at the table once more.

"Make peace with the situation and enjoy yourself as much as you can. We don't know how much time we have left before the day comes when we..." she trailed off, Greg still perfectly understanding what she was saying. He nodded solemnly and left the house without saying goodbye, the door closing shut behind him.

 _Well_ , Greg thought to himself. _So much for sleeping tonight._

* * *

 _A few hours later…_

The kids were sad that Greg had left without saying goodbye but they both understood that the conversation they had must've been important, so they didn't complain. Instead they tried to take their mind off of their conversation with the Gems earlier and focused on watching TV and eating their pizza. They went back to peacefully enjoying themselves for another few hours, the sun finally going down and it became nighttime as the pair of friends lied next to each other in their awesome pillow fort when Garnet came walking up the steps up into Steven's room.

"Kids," she said firmly, getting both of their attention. They turned their heads and faced her while they were lying there.

"We're going to the Kindergarten for a little while. The both of you need to stay here, and under no circumstances should you leave this house. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Garnet," they said in dull unison.

"Good. We'll be back in a couple of hours. There's snacks in the cabinets and drinks in the fridge, so you two should be fine on your own." And she went back down the stairs to join Pearl and Amethyst. They said something to each other but it was too quiet for either teens to hear and with that they walked out the door. Little did they know how things would later turn out that night…

After 10 minutes into another episode of "Under the Knife", Steven nudged Connie's shoulder. The girl turned to Steven, wondering was he wanted, then became confused when she saw a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Um, what is it Steven?" She asked.

"It's time to go," he replied with that same smile.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I'm okay with disobeying the Gems for the greater good, but what happens to you if we get caught?"

"I don't know, but I guess we probably shouldn't get caught." He stood up from the blanketed floor and went over to his closet where he grabbed a black hoodie from one of the hangers and put it on. "Did you bring something warm?"

"Y-yeah." Connie got up from the floor as well and went over to her bag. She then ruffled through its contents before finally pulling out a hoodie of her own that was a very dark brown and she put it on. She turned to Steven and asked, "Ready?"

"Hold on," he said, looking around the room for a minute before grabbing something black that fit in both his hands. He then showed her what it was and she became confused once more.

"Steven, why do we need a camera?"

"You never know if you'll see something worth taking a picture of," he said, the smile on his face growling bigger by the minute. "It's just in case we find something important." He put the camera in his cheeseburger backpack that was nearby and looped one strap around his shoulder.

"Now here comes the fun. Follow me."

A few minutes later they were inside the Burning Room, a place that Connie had never seen before. She marveled at the countless bubbled gems in both awe and wonder.

"Steven..." she said. "It's beautiful here!"

"I agree, it's a very pretty place here in the temple. I can't believe I've never showed you before."

"Well I'm glad you did, don't get me wrong," she continued. "But why exactly did you bring me here?"

"Because this is where we store all the monsters we capture." She reached out to a nearby bubble that contained a weird gem that looked like a multicolored hodgepodge of other gem shards that were just crudely fused together. At first Connie didn't understand what is was while she was staring at it, and then it hit her.

"That's one of the Gem monsters that attacked us at my mom's hospital!" She exclaimed, pointing at the now recognizable gem.

"That's right!" Steven said, letting go of the bubble and letting it fly off somewhere within the room before grabbing another bubble, this one holding some kind of green and black gem.

"Every Gem mutant we come across," Steven explained. "We bring here after we've poofed it and contained it in a bubble."

"Well what do you do with them after that?" She asked while observing the bubble he was currently holding.

"We...just keep them here for now," he said sadly. "No one knows how to help the Gems here, Corruption is a very hard thing to deal with. We just keep them here so they can't hurt anyone and they can't hurt themselves until we figure out how to help them. The bubbles keep them safe and they can't reform as long as they stay inside, but if the bubble gets popped the Gem mutant can reform and cause some serious damage, so we take extra care in making sure nothing happens to the bubble." After he finished explaining everything he stuck out his pointer finger and pointed up into the air. Connie gave him a weird look, wondering what he was doing. Then with a very happy and nonchalant smile on his face while maintaining direct eye contact with her, he suddenly reached down and poked the side of the bubble. The pink barrier immediately popped and the Gem fell to the ground with a small _clink_!

"Steven!" Connie screamed, giving him a look of pure terror and backing away a few steps from the Gem. She became even more horrified when she saw that he still had that smile on his face, except this time it seemed more excited and happy.

"Steven, what are you doing? Don't you realize what you've done!?"

"I do," he replied casually like nothing was wrong. "That's why I'm so happy."

Connie's confusion only grew and before she could say anything else she noticed something. She looked at the gemstone sitting on the ground and saw that it had began to let off a dim but noticeable light green glow. Within a few seconds the glow grew brighter and brighter to the point that it lit up the entire room and it was too bright to look at. Before Connie could avert her eyes she saw that the light was starting to die down and a form was taking shape. Then she let out a gasp of disbelief.

It was a humanoid shape.

A few moments later the humanoid shape fully formed and the glow died down, leaving just the figure standing in its place.

Connie couldn't believe it. It wasn't a monster, it was a gem!

Connie observed the Gem like she'd never seen one before. She had light green skin, thick, white flowing hair reaching down to her ankles and stunningly beautiful and piercing jade-colored eyes. Her outfit consisted of a tight-fitting sleeveless black shirt with matching black shorts, tactical pads on both her elbows and knees, dark leather bracers on each of her wrists and laceless black combat boots. Her gemstone was located on her left shoulder.

Before anything else happened Steven cried out "Hugs!" Before running up to the Gem and practically tackled her in a big hug. The Gem let out a surprised yelp before happily laughing at the boy's excitement from seeing her and returned his hug with one of her own, wrapping her arms around the boy and giving him a good squeeze.

"Jade! It's so good to see you again!" Steven exclaimed with stars in his eyes.

The Gem chuckled a bit before saying "It's good to see you too Steven!" while returning his enthusiasm.

As Connie got a good look at her, the gem released Steven from the hug and stared back at Connie as well, a look of confusion present on her face. After a few minutes of silent observing from both females the Gem finally spoke.

"Steven," she said, standing up and looking at the boy. "Who is this?"

"Well Jade, this is my very good friend Connie," Steven introduced.

"Oh so this is the person named Connie you spoke of," Jade said with a surprised smile on her face. Jade approached Connie and held out her hand. Connie instinctively flinched away with a little from Jade's actions, causing the Gem to lose her smile and had it replaced with a look of worry and concern.

"Did-did I do something wrong?" She asked.

Connie hadn't thought much of what she did until she saw the effect it had on Jade. "No it's not that, you're fine. It's just...every time I meet a new Gem, they always try to kill me..."

Jade's eyes widened at that revelation. "Oh my stars, I'm so sorry. Am I making you feel uncomfortable?"

"No it's cool, I'm...actually quite happy to meet you." Connie held out her hand. "I'm Connie."

Jade reached out with her own hand and they shook on it. "I'm Jade, nice to meet you."

"So anyway..." Steven began once the two had become acquainted with one another. "Jade, I came for you today because Connie and I need your help with something."

"We do? Connie said in confusion, looking at him with a look that conveyed how lost she was at the moment.

"Well whatever it is, I'm sure I can do it," Jade said with a smile of determination and giving Steven a thumbs up.

"That's great to hear," he said. "So here's what's going on..."

So for the next 10 minutes or so Steven told Jade about the Crystal Gems that were living in Beach City including Peridot and Lapis, and how Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet were concerned that there was a new Homeworld presence on Earth. He told her about how they left to go see if they could find any evidence of Homeworld coming to Earth and how Steven and Connie wanted to follow them and see if they could do some investigating themselves. Steven and Connie knew it was risky and they might get in trouble but they weren't about to just idly stand by in case the Gems actually did find something.

"And I'm telling you all this because I want your help," Steven said once he finished his explanation. "It would be very helpful if you came along with us."

Jade seemed to ponder on his request for a moment in her head, falling silent as she processed everything he had just said. Then she finally did speak.

"Steven, I...I don't know, honestly. I haven't been myself for so long and I need some time to adjust to this planet still and...It just seems like you're asking a lot from me so soon after first meeting me, you know? I still don't know how to even feel about these Crystal Gems yet because I've been on Homeworld's side for all my life, and..."

Steven's expression immediately changed from one filled with happiness to one filled with sadness. "Oh...Well okay then. I kind of wanted you to see the Earth since you've been...bubbled for so long and I...actually never mind, you're right."

"Yeah, I'm just not ready for all that just yet. Sorry..." Jade continued.

"Well, I guess you could explore the house while we're gone, " Connie suggested. "The world has changed a lot since the last time you've been here, so getting used to the change in environmental would be good for you."

"Well that's definitely a start," Jade said in agreement.

"Yeah that's a great idea Connie," Steven also agreed. "Follow us, we're in the temple right now, but our house is just outside. Come on we'll show you!"

"Thanks Steven," Jade said. Then she frowned in confusion."Wait, What's a house?"

A few minutes later the trio of friends were standing in the middle of the beach house, where the living and dining rooms met in the center. Jade looked at the places both in curiosity and wonder, never before seeing a man-made structure built in such a sophisticated manner. The various electronic devices and pieces of furniture also sparked her interest, especially since the last time she saw humans and their homes they were mostly huts and primitive structures made of mud and stone. Evidently humans advanced by a huge margin when it came to housing.

"So you...live inside this place?" Jade asked while intently observing every inch of the place.

"Yeah, most humans live in house like this one too," Steven answered. "Well, houses are everywhere but not one house is the same as another, they're all different."

"Wow...it's amazing, much bigger and prettier than the ones I'm used to seeing." She pointed to one of the many strange and unfamiliar contraptions that sat around the house. "What's that?"

"That's a refrigerator," Connie explained. "It keeps all of our stored food cold so we can eat it later."

"Storing food away for later? That was a new concept when I was last here, but I guess it's still effective. Before humans would eat whatever food they had and if there were leftovers they would feed them to their dogs. And that?"

"That's our microwave," Steven explained this time. "Some foods can be heated up inside that so it's nice and hot for when we eat it. It only works on some foods though, and for bigger things we use that." He pointed at the stove.

"Fire was used when I was here last time," Jade said in nostalgia as she gazed at the strange and intriguing appliances around the room. "I've got to hand it to you, mankind has made many wondrous and creative innovations since the time I was here. And here we thought you were too primitive to form a conscious thought, no wonder you were such a formidable foe during the war."

"Humans were actually that difficult for Homeworld to fight?" Connie asked with a little shock. "I thought the real issue was fighting against the rebels during the war, especially since they knew things about Homeworld that the humans didn't."

"Yeah, the humans at the time were a pretty solid species when it came to organized fighting," Jade continued. "You know, the war didn't start with the rebels leading the fight. The human civilizations we encountered across the Earth were each capable of fending us off in their own unique ways. We had the numbers and the better technology, but they knew the land better and they had the willpower to fight."

"Yeah that sounds like us," Steven replied. "We're stubborn when we want to be."

"So...I guess now you guys are leaving to go on a mission or something?" Jade asked.

"Oh yeah!" Steven answered upon remembering. "We're going to the Kindergarten to go scope the scene without the Gems knowing." He turned to Connie. "I guess we should get going then."

"Wait, let me get some things out of my bag real quick," Connie said before running over back to Steven's room and disappearing upstairs.

"So…" Jade trailed off once they were alone. "What should I do while you two are gone?"

"Oh." Steven hadn't thought of that. He was so certain that Jade would come along with them that he didn't really have anything for her to do while he and Connie were gone. "Well...maybe you could kind of explore the house for a little bit? I honestly have no idea what you should do. I don't want you exploring the city just yet because it's a lot different from what you're used to, and-"

"I can just retreat back into my gem if you'd like," she offered. "I get that the world that you live in is...not what I'm used to, and I don't want to be alone when I see all of it for the first time. And when you get back, maybe you can give me a tour of the city yourself. It would be nice to better know the planet I'm stranded on." Then she smiled, and a second later she disappeared back into her gem with a bright green flash. Steven quickly reached out and caught the gemstone in his hands before bubbling it again and releasing it back into the air with the countless other bubbled stones.

He turned to Connie. "So yeah, that's Jade."

"Steven…" Connie said with awe, staring at him with diamonds shining in her eyes. "Do you realize how incredible this is? I don't believe this!"

Steven rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, I'm just happy that I finally did something helpful for once."

"Steven, I don't think you realize how important this is, this changes everything that we know about gems!" Connie said excitedly. "Wait until we tell the gems! They'd be so proud-"

"No, no no no!" Steven quickly interjected, waving his hands in protest. "We can't tell them about any of this, I'm not ready to tell them yet."

"But…" Connie's excitement left her in an instant at his words. "Why wouldn't we tell them? This is a game-changer in every way, essential knowledge that they need to know as soon as possible! Why are you holding back?"

"Because...they just don't need to know right now," he explained, trying to not reveal his real reason for not going to the gems about this. Steven felt justified by his reasoning, and no one, not even Connie, is going to convince him otherwise. He couldn't do it, not until he was ready. "I'll tell them eventually, but not now. The time isn't right."

Connie couldn't believe what Steven was telling her, and it agitated her. "Steven, the time is now, the time is perfect, to tell the gems about this. Think about it, what if Homeworld really is planning to invade? Us two children and the Crystal Gems aren't going to stand a chance by ourselves. We need an army, and we have one right here." She gestured towards the numerous bubbles floating around the room. "We know have the answer to all of our problems, and we can't win without them, you know that already." She softened up a bit. "You have to know that already, don't you?"

"Connie, I'm not ready," Steven replied patiently, her persistence bothering him further. "That's final."

"Final? Final!? Who do you think you're talking to!?" Connie shouted angrily, balling her hands into fists. "I'm not some little girl who needs a stern talking to, I'm twelve, almost thirteen, and I know what I'm talking about! Why can't you see that we need the rest of these gems healed so we can actually have a chance against our enemies? You wanna know what I think?" she smiled deviously, which Steven had never seen on her before, and he didn't like that he was the reason she was doing it.

"I think you're just too prideful! You think just because you're the only gem-human hybrid in the universe that you're the savior of it all! You're too busy thinking you're some kind of Jesus figure that you won't actually do what is right or the most effective when a crisis arise!"

Steven, in a tone of both warning and brewing rage, said, "Connie, watch very carefully what you say to me next. There are things at play that you don't know, and it's the same for me, so just watch what you say."

She snorted sarcastically. "Typical. Always talking about being a crystal gem, but never wanting to do anything when something happens. Frankly, Steven, I don't think you should even be a crystal gem, you clearly won't sacrifice or give anything for the cause you claim to have."

That was the last straw for Steven. He had been patient and understanding this whole time, but the anger had been too much for him and he was about to explode, but he stopped himself. He knew that just having a shouting match would get them nowhere, and despite his anger at Connie, he couldn't bring himself to shout at her anymore. So he did something else.

"Lift my shirt up," he said calmly.

Connie's anger dispersed and was replaced with genuine confusion and annoyance. "What?"

"Come over here and lift my shirt up," he repeatedly patiently, gesturing her to come over to him. "I've got something to show you."

Connie sighed. "Steven-" she started, but jumped from being startled by his next words.

"Just do it!" he snapped, the feeling of anger still partly in him.

Steven saw, if only for a second, fear flash across the younger girl's face. It disappeared as Connie walked over to him and stood about four inches from his body. He also noticed that she was starting to turn red in the face. He soon followed suit, realizing how awkward this would be for a few good minutes.

There they stood, staring into each other's eyes, and for a few fleeting seconds, they weren't mad at each other. They were friends, best friends, both of which just wanted the other to be happy and be safe in the crazy world that they lived in. They were the true reasons they got up in the morning, the reasons they fought so hard to protect their home, because despite the Earth being their home and the home of billions of other people, they were each other's rocks. They loved each other dearly, more than anything in the universe, and they loved each other more than best friends. They just didn't know it yet. They had no idea how far they would go for each other.

Or how far their love would take them in life.

"Lift up my shirt," Steven ordered.

Connie slowly reached down and took the bottom of his shirt in her hands. She hesitated a second, looking very nervous and searching his face for confirmation to continue with her actions. Steven nodded, and so she lifted the shirt up to his neck, revealing his body to her, and Connie gasped at what she saw.

Now everyone knows that Steven was a little chubbier than your average fourteen year old, but everything about what Connie was seeing was something completely different from being average. Steven's body was toned, more muscular than most would think. Now usually Connie would be monumentally embarrassed in her current predicament, looking at her friend's body like this, but instead she was horrified by everything else she saw.

Cuts. Bruises, gashes, and scratches all over Steven's chest and stomach. They were all in the process of healing, but the sheer amount of the injuries he had sustained had absolutely horrified Connie to her core. He had been hiding his injuries from everyone; his friends, his family, until now. And seeing the look of horror on her face felt worse than he could have ever imagined; the pain and shame of keeping his battered and beaten body from the greatest person in his life overcame all anger and frustration he previously had.

Eventually Connie spoke, and her voice was soft when she did, "Steven…"

"For months," Steven explained. "I've been coming to this room, every night, to try to help these gems get better, and I haven't told anyone. I know the gems, and they would go ballistic if they found out I've been doing this behind their backs. You know that's how it would go if I told them, am I right?"

"But Steven, look at what you've done," Connie said. "You've done what was thought to be impossible! This changes literally everything we know about gems, I'm sure they'd see through the deceitfulness this time, it was for the greater good. And..." She put her hand on one of Steven's sides, where there was a particularly nasty gash, and Steven flinced slightly under her soft touch. Her voice was low, and she looked at him with a sad but understanding expression.

"And I'm sure the gems wouldn't want you to keep this up if it meant hurting you."

Steven pondered on it for a while. She was right about many things; he knew that the gens would not only be proud of him and they would want him to stop to preserve his health, but they needed an army if they expected to defend the Earth from Homeworld. The Crystal Gems, Connie and himself wouldn't be enough, Steven knew that, he wasn't stupid. He wanted to tell the gems for so long, but then there were his reasons for not doing so; the fact that the gems were always hiding things from him, the possibility that he wasn't able to succeed in curing the corrupted gems of their ailment, and the fact that he had no idea what would happen if he actually _was_ able to succeed. There were too manh things that could go wrong with this, and so he made the decision.

"I just can't right now, Connie. There's just so much going on right now, telling the gems about all of this would cause more problems than solutions."

Connie tried to hide her disappointment, but Steven could read it all over her face. She frowned sadly and looked like she had been stabbed in the back by a closd family member. She turned away from him, not being able to compute his decision to withhold such valuable information.

"But hey," Steven continued. "The very second something happens that makes us need to heal the rest of these gems, I'll tell them. I promise."

Connie did not turn around. Instead she proceeded to cross her arms over her chest and stayed silent.

"Connie? Connie look at me..." he pleaded. He help his hand out for a hi-five from his friend. "Jam buds?"

Connie did look back this time, but only slightlg turned her body around to do so. She looked from him, to his outstretched hand, and back to him before mumbling, "Jam buds," underneath her breath and walking away towards the temple door.

Steven's heart sank in his chest. Je had never really made Connie mad before. Heck, they had never even had a _fight_ before, until now, and it definitely did not feel good. He never wanted to make her upset, but they just had a difference of opinion. This wasn't some earth-shattering argument that would create a rift between their friendship; they would be back to laughing and beinf friends again in no time. Until then, he'd just have to make sure he didn't escalate the conflict.

He sighed as he followed Connie over to the door, where she was standing quietly with her arms still folded over her chest, looking very pissed off and upset. In awkward and tension-filled silence, Steven went through the process of opening the door back into the living room with his gem, and the two children stepped inside. Connie wordlessly passed through, and as he passed through, Steven glanced back one more time at the green gemstone suspended in the air in a pink bubble and smiled.

"Bye Jade, I'll see you later. And I promise I'll take you out for a tour of Beach City when I get back." And with that, he closed the door.

Once inside the house again, Steven and Connie each packed sachels full of supplies they'd need for their stealth mission; bandages, bottled waters, granola bars, a set of binoculars, Steven's camera, Connie's sword (which she evidently packed with her overnight duffel bag for the week), and each had a walkie-talkie, in case they were separated for whatever reason. Still wearing their dark-colored hoodies, they grabbed their bags and exited the beach house. As they were walking down the stairs, they saw Lion curled up on the sandy beach in a deep sleep, snoring pretty loudly as he did when he took naps.

"Hey buddy," Steven said casually as him and Connie approached the slumbering feline.

Lion's ears immediately perked up and his snoring ceased as well. He popped open one eye and stared in annoyance at the young boy.

"So Lion, Connie and I have to go to the Kindergarten, and we were hoping that you could-"

Lion let out a low, gutteral roar and closed his eye again.

"Awww, come on, Lion! Pleeeeeease?" Steven pleaded, dropping to his knees and clasping his hands together dramatically. Connie couldn't help but giggle at the spectical before her, but Steven had an idea.

"Lion," he said, returning to to his feet. "If you take us to the Kindergarten, I'll buy you all the Lion Lickers the Big Donut has. Deal?"

That got his attention. Lion immediately sprang to his four feet and looked wide awake at the two of them. Lion gently nuzzeled his muzzle into Steven's chest, triggering a fit of childish laughter to be elicited from the young boy.

"Thanks, buddy," he whispered as he lovingly stroked Lion's mane.

Steven proceeded to mount Lion, sachel strapped over his chest, and held out his hand to Connie on the ground. Now Connie was still upset with Steven, but she couldn't help but feel a wave of warm feelings surge through her and smile as she saw Steven perched up on his stead, reaching out to her. Like her knight in shining armor.

"You coming?" he asked.

Connie quickly pushed all those pleasent feelings out of her mind as she took his hand and climbed up behind him on Lion. She wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling her face grow hot and hoping he didn't notice. Fortunately for Connie, Steven was too preoccupied with blushing madly himself to notice.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Lion let out a mighty roar, creating a white portal hovering over the sandy shore, and without a moment's hesitation, leapt through it, before it disappeared just as quickly as it came.

And all was still.

 **Holy shit on a shingle, a lot has happened in this chapter. Greg learns the truth about Homeworld's possible invasion, Garnet opens up a bit, Connie meets Jade, and Connie and Steven have their first fight. That's a lot to digest at once, so I'd go back to catch up on the rest of the story to refresh yourselves. Also, after I finish this story, I have plans for another one. Its a sequel to this story and another prequel to "Separate Ways", bu it'll be very different than most other SU fanfics. I'll gice you a hint; who here knows anything about "Battlefield 1"?**

 **Anyway, I'm getting out of here. It feels so good to be back, and I'll see you in the next one. Peace.**


	8. The Kindergarten

**I'm sorry. Let me just start off with that.** **I never meant to cause such a fuss with you guys, I was just going through a very rough patch, and what I said I was going to do, I meant it. I tried doing what I said I was gonna do, and came close to succeeding. But something saved me, something stopped me, and now here I am. I won't be doing all that stuff ever again, I'm in a better place right now, so...that's all I'm gonna say. I'm not looking for pity or attention, I just wanna move past it and never bring it up again. I hope you all understand.**

 **And now, a statement from a fellow reader, and now a good friend of mine.**

 _ **Hi, guys! So, when Lazuli uploaded that chapter, I, like most of you, got worried. Now, I have actually been communicating with Lazuli directly over the past year, at first PMs, and then, once we thought it'd be a fun idea to collab on a story together, we exchanged emails. So, when that chapter was uploaded, I emailed him, asking for an explanation and... I won't describe any details out of respect for Lazuli, but I will say my main priority was keeping him talking. To sum up a long story, the right people were called and crisis was averted. Lazuli was in a bad place, and even just through emails, I saw it. No one should have to get to that place. So, if you read this, be sure to spread kindness and a listening ear out into the world. Sometimes it's all people really need. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. Hopefully, this isn't the last you'll hear from me.**_

 **That was from a reader of my works I've been in contact with for a long time, and I'm proud to call him my friend now. Okay, that's enough of all that stuff, I've got a new chapter for you guys, hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

The Kindergarten was just as desolate and gloomy as it the last time Garnet was here.

Despite this, the place still both equally frightened and tired her just as much as it did the first time she came to this wreched place. That was one of the worst things about having to come to the Kindergarten; that actually being here for any amount of time would be an absolutely agonizing affliction on even the happiest and most composed of all people. The Kindergarten, it seemed, could suck out the joy and very life out of anyone who dared venture into itself. Needless to say, Garnet very much hated to be here.

The stoic fusion, accompanied by Amethyst and Pearl, made her way through the barren wasteland that was the Prime Kindergarten with purposeful caution, both observing the environment around her for any signs of recent intrusion and activity, while also looking forward into the future in an attempt to forsee any possible clues or red flags about their current situation, but alas, her future vision had failed her again. She couldn't see anything past the present, just as the last few days had also left her effectively "blind". She was completely in the dark, and that only meant one thing.

Something was about to go down. Very, very soon, and she had no idea what it was.

And that terrified her.

"Hey Garnet?" Amethyst asked meekly, lagging slightly behind her, as was Pearl. "Um, what exactly are we looking for?"

"Anything that suggests that Homeworld has been here," Garnet answered, keeping herself composed and focused on the task at hand. She looked at one of the old drilling machines used to dig into the Earth, now destroyed and lying uselessly on it's side. She hoped that she wouldn't find anything like this, had Homeworld actually be on Earth. She couldn't stand the thought of this planet, her home, being subject to having the life literally sucked out of it to feed Homeworld's war machine. It could never be recovered it if came to that, and Garnet never wanted to see another Kindergarten anywhere else on her planet. Never again.

"But if they are indeed on Earth, why would they come here?" Pearl inquired. "None of the technology left behind here is operational, and it would be a tactical mistake to resume operations in the same place they were known to have been before. It's just irrational to even-"

"Unless we know what we're dealing with, nothing is irrational," Garnet interrupted sternly, her stride not faltering in the slightest. "Nothing is out of the question. We come here, and every other Homeworld structure on Earth until we decide what our next move is, and I'd appreciate it very much if you would stop questioning my methods. Is that clear, Pearl?"

Pearl was taken aback by Garnet's suddenly agitated state, but nevertheless she hummed in understanding and, unconsciously, slunk a little farther from the fusion in embarassment and a touch of fear.

After returning to an eerie silence and wanderind around the entirety of the Kindergarten, Garnet heard something. She stopped and held up a closed fist for Pearl and Amethyst to see, signing that they were to be as silent as possible and to stay alert. She could here the two gems behind her summon their respective weapons, and Garnet followed suit by summoning her gauntlets as well. Then all was quiet as Garnet strained to hear... whatever it was that she just heard. She couldn't really he sure, but it sounded like...voices. Ones she didn't recognize.

She didn't hear them again after a few minutes of waiting with baited breath, Garnet put two fingers to her eyes and flipped her hand in front of her three times in quick sessesion;

Eyes up and proceed with caution.

As the three gem companions trekked on into what now seemed like uncharted territory, Garnet once more tried to predict the outcomes of their mission. Once again she was left in the dark, unable to see anything past what was literally right in front her; a bend in the path through the Kindergarten, obscured by the cliff edges of the place. She rounded the corner, keeping her eyes up and alert...

And walked into an Amethyst soldier. Quite literally, their foreheads colliding hard, appearing almost comical in terms of how unexpected and how loud it was.

Both gems backed uo a few steps in shock and surprise, taking a minute to process what just happened, and then they both realized the gravity of the situation that just appeared before them. Pearl and Amethyst gasped in shock.

No one moved. No one spoke. All they did was stare at each other, watching, waiting for one to do something. Due to the silence and lack of anything happening, the Crystal Gems got a very good look at their enemy. The Amethyst soldier stood at least 7 feet tall, only a handful of inches shorter than Garnet, and had limbs as thick as the sturdiest tree branches in Beach City. She had thick white hair, identical to that of the Centipeedle's mane, that reached all the way down to her ankles, a deep blue, sleeveless tactical vest that tighly conformed to her body, and piercing lavender eyes that were currently filled with fear and curiosity. Her vest's neck plunged slightly down into the top of her chest cavity, and right beneath it, 3 diamonds arranged with 1 on top and 2 below them. The insignia of the Diamond Authority of Homeworld.

After a few minutes of tension-filled silence and shot nerves, the Amethyst spoke up.

Nervously, she started with, "You're them, aren't you?"

Garnet was puzzled. She wasn't expecting that question, or really any question at all, and Pearl replied before she could get any words out.

"We're who? What do you mean?" she asked, taking a defensive stance, spear in hand with the tip positioned towards the Amethyst.

She didn't answer, instead she quickly turned and tried to run, but she didn't get far.

"Amethyst!" Garnet said, referring to her Crystal Gem companion.

She didn't have to say anything further, Amethyst understood. She lashed out with her whip, coiling around the fleeing gem's ankles, stopping her dead in her tracks and bringing her to the ground with a hard THUD! She turned around with fear in her eyes as she looked up at the trio, who now, especially Garnet, seemed to tower over her. Garnet saw her quiver in pure terror, and she decided not to poof her. Not yet. They needed information about Homeworld's business on Earth. Then she'd poof her.

"You aren't going anywhere anytime soon," Garnet said. "So don't bother trying to escape, or myself or one of my friends here with not hesitate to shatter you where you sit. Understand?"

The Amethyst couldn't say anything, her voice suddenly seem to fail her. She desperately tried to speak, but only a chorus of stutters and gibberish escaped her lips.

"I-I wo-, what? Pl-please don't-"

Garnet punched her gauntlets together loudly, causing the gem to visibly recoil from the scary sound and gesture.

"Understand?" she firmly repeated.

"I-I..." the gem gulped and took a nervous breath. "Yes, I do, loud and clear."

"Good." Garnet eased up a litle bit. It was clear that this gem was a rookie and had probably never seen a rogue gem, or maybe any hostile being at all. The Ruby in Garnet knew exactly what that felt like, and so she was going to be as patient and as empathetic as possible while interrogating her.

"Now, my first question," Garnet began. "How many soldiers are here in the Kindergarten?"

The Amethyst gulped. "An entire battalion's worth of soldiers and about a hundred Ruby laborers. You won't ever be able to take them on your own, it's suicide."

Don't underestimate us," Pearl said confidently. "We're the Crystal Gems, we've faced countless of your finest warriors and have come out victorious every time."

To this the terrified Amethyst actually let out a chuckle. "Maybe thousands of years ago, but this time it's different. Our technology, our weaponry, is so much more advanced than what you fought against. Did you really think we wouldn't grow and further improve and invent new tech? You must be duller than a pebble. And you haven't even met the Commander yet."

"Not true," Pearl continued, her calm and empowered demeanor never wavering. "Agates, Aquamarines, Nephrites, we've faced all kinds of commanders and lieutenants, so yours won't be anything special. If you've met one, you've met them all."

"Not this one, he's different. There's something wrong with him; his genetic makeup isn't natural. He isn't a gem, he's also something else. A hybrid, a mixed organism-"

"You mean a fusion?" Amethyst - the good one - asked, her first time speaking up during the duration of the conversation.

The Amethyst shook her head. "Not like you think. He's a combination of two different species', but no one really knows what he is or where he comes from. And his powers? They're horrifying, unlike anything Homeworld has ever created before. If you go attack the base and try to stop what we're doing here, you're going to die. Even if you somehow get past the hundreds of Quartz soldiers, you won't stand a chance against the Commander. Want some free advice? Just walk the other way and never come back."

"That's enough." Garnet stood over her and clenched her fist.

The Amethyst, who this entire time was scared witless, relaxed and grinned knowingly, her fearful and timid behavior being replaced with ease and doubtfulness. "You'll never win."

Garnet replied, "Heard that one before." And with one hard punch to her body, exploded the Amethyst's physical form and sent her to her gem, the stone in question now lying on the cold, lifeless ground.

Garnet knelt over the purple gem, reaching her hands over it. Pearl immediately spoke to her in caution.

"Garnet... just wait a minute. We don't wanna shatter anyone just yet. We're not at war just yet, and we don't wanna be the ones to start something like that until we know what we're up against."

"Pearl, she's an enemy soldier, another threat to Earth we have to take care of. We can't just-" she stopped once she saw Amethyst's face. She was looking in the distance, her face slightly turned away from her, but Garnet saw it; Amethyst was on the verge of tears.

Of course. Amethyst hadn't fought in the Gem War, she'd never seen her friends poof or shatter another gem. And it was an Amethyst that Garnet just poofed, which didn't help matters at all, and Garnet was about to just end her life like it was nothing. It was too much for her to bear, and Garnet hadn't even taken her feelings into consideration.

Amethyst," Garnet said to her friend. No response. Garnet dismissed her gauntlets and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, look at me." She tried coaxing Amethyst out of her defensive shell she would go into when she was emotional.

After a few more shakes and a little more talking, Amethyst finally met her gaze. It tore Garnet up inside to see her like this, all broken and scared like this, it really wasn't like her to be this way. That's how Garnet knew Amethyst really needed a little support right now.

"Amethyst," she started calmly. "Listen to me. That Amethyst soldier was a threat. If we let her go, she would've alerted any of the other gem soldiers here, and then we would've gotten caught." In an out-of-character act of compassion, Garnet took the purple gem's hand into her own, taking Amethyst by surprise.

"Please, hear me now," she almost pleaded. "This is uncharted territory for you, and I completely understand, but I really need you to stay focused on the mission and don't let your emotions get the best of you. The three of us have no idea what we're up against, but we do know that whatever comes our way, we'll face it together. Can we rely on you to be here with us?"

Amethyst still seemed choked up, but she took a deep breath to steel herself and somehow managed to speak.

"Y-yeah... I'm with you G," she answered. "It's just..." She looked down at the gemstone that lay on the ground at their feet. "It feels wrong to just shatter her like this. Like, she didn't even try to fight us, and now we're gonna just..end her? This seems different from fighting a war. She should at least have a chance..."

"Amethyst, it's either her or us," Pearl said firmly. "We can't save or spare every gem we come across. This is war, and in war you have to... take lives for the greater good. We have to shatter her, it would jeopardize the mission, and who knows what would become of us.

Garnet could see what she was getting at, and she actually agreed, they couldn't risk the soldier reforming and having her raise the alarm. But shattering her like this was wrong, especially given the circumstances. So Garnet compromised. She knelt down, held her hands over the stone, and a salmon-colored bubble formed around it. Then after Garnet lightly tapped the top of said bubble, it vanished into thin air, sent back to the Burning Room at the temple.

"There," she said while returning to her feet. "No risk of being caught while being merciful at the same time. Any objections?"

Her two companions shared a brief glance at each other before answering.

"I like it, it works," said Amethyst. "Thank you, Garnet."

Although Garnet deeply appreciated Amethyst's sentiment, as Amethyst was never one to show much, she simply nodded, turned and asked, "Pearl?"

Pearl stayed in deep thought for a few moments, weighing options and variables in her head that only she understood.

"It works. Now we have a prisoner to get information out of, and-"

"Um, no way Pearl!" Amethyst objected. "We ain't gonna just torture some gem who hasn't even done anything wrong, it's not fair!"

Pearl took a cautious step back from her agitated friend. "Amethyst...this isn't a battle with a corrupted gem mutant. This is Homeworld we're dealing with, so the rules of engagement are quite different and-"

Garnet interjected. "We can talk about this another time, right now we have a mission to complete. " Garnet continued on deeper into the enemy camp, not bothering to wait for an answer. Amethyst and Pearl wordlessly followed suit.

While they were walking, the Gems suddenly heard voices. Without a word, the three of them stuck to the cavern walls of the Kindergarten when they came up to the corner. Garnet peeked over and saw two more Quartz Soldiers huddled together talking about something. She took cover back behind the corner of the wall, and listened in to their conversation. Garnet had constantly scolded Steven and her gem companions for the deed, but this was the only way she could gather some kind of intel on the enemy.

"So remind me what exactly we're doing here on Earth?" One quartz asked, her face holding a large scar over her left eye.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure really," the other said. She herself had no distinguishing features but her voice seemed naturally a few pitches higher than most Quartzes. "Something about monitoring Earth to see if it could be of any use to Homeworld."

Garnet's worst fears were confirmed. Homeworld was making plans to invade the Earth. She knew there was no way the Crystal Gems would be able to defeat an army of Homeworld's elite.

"Well have you heard anything from the Commander?" Scarface inquired.

"Nothing helpful," Pitchy admitted. "He mentioned something about a "high probability of local enemies attempting to interfere with our duties," and to "engage on site if said threats make themselves present." Basically just a fancy way of saying to guard the place and attack anything that comes up to us."

He? In all of Garnet's years, before Ruby and Sapphire met and since then, never had she heard of a gem reffered to with the "he" pronoun. Something strange was going on here.

Scarface laughed. "Yeah, why does he talk like that? He acts as if he were a diamond himself, using all those big words just to look smarter."

"Well rumor has it, he's not an actual gem." Pitchy cautiously looked around, making sure they were alone before she dropped her voice to a low whisper, one that Garnet could barely make out.

"I heard that he's an experimental new breed of gem that mixes the DNA of a gem and...well, some unknown other species. He's a hybrid, the first of his kind. And guess who's experiment he is."

"Who's, Yellow's?"

"Nah. Holly Blue's."

Scarface gasped. "Oh my stars, really? But.. what interest does Holly Blue have with hybrids?"

"Beats me." Pitchy shrugged. "I just know he isn't like other officers we've had. And he's supposedly got these super powered abilities no one's ever seen before. The dude's a geo-weapon in his own right."

"Well I'd hate to be on his bad side then," Scarface said. A distant alarm sounding caught the ears of the two soldiers, as well as their secret audience nearby.

"What's that?" asked Pitchy.

Scarface shrugged. "Could be anything. There could be a debriefing, there could be an accident, something like that. Hell, there could even be intruders here. We have one alarm for literally everything. It makes ya wonder how Homeworld is such a powerful empire without having different alarms for different occasions."

Pitchy laughed. "Right? It's the little things like how we have one alarm for everything that makes no sense."

"Amen to that. Let's go see what it is."

The two soldiers ventured deeper into the caverns of the Kindergarten, moving in the opposite direction of the Crystal Gems. Soon they were out of sight and Garnet emerged from her hiding spot.

"This is bad," Pearl remarked as herself and Amethyst also left their little corner within the cliff walls.

"You were right Garnet, this is the worst thing that could be happening right now. Who knows what'll happen if-"

"Just stop for a second, I need to think." As important as what Pearl was saying, Garnet's mind was more focused on the "commander" the qwartzes had spoken of. Holly Blue experimenting with different species? A gem hybrid? This was big. This was huge. As far as the greater universe knew, a gem being combined with another species was unheard of. Well, with the exception of Steven, but even he was a complete mystery, but at least he was on their side. Plus he got all his powers from his mother, Rose. This commander though, he could have any kind of powers conceivable, as Homeworld's gem forces had very diverse abilities and attributes and they were constantly making new advances in their technology. The threat of Homeworld invading is very real and catastrophic, but it was a known threat at least. This gem hybrid however...they knew nothing about, Garnet included.

That only increased the astronomical level of fear that had been growing inside of her since this whole thing started. It was a feeling she wasn't ever used to because of her future vision, which she always used to be in full control of every situation that arose and her vision had never failed her. Until now. Now was really the very first time, apart from Sapphire meeting Ruby, that she had absolutely no idea what was to happen next with everything. She could not act with any certainty on anything without the possibility of jeopardizing the mission or putting the team in harm's way, or-

"Garnet?" Amethyst tore her from her thoughts and brought her back to the crisis at hand.

"What, Amethyst?"

"I don't know what all this means, but I do know this. The situation's pretty jacked up, we all know that, but here's the thing; you've led us out of some pickles that we would never have made it out without you. I can't count how many times I thought we would lose a fight or fail a mission or even die, and you brought us out without so much as a scratch."

"What I'm saying is," Amethyst continued. "Whatever happens, I'm with you and I trust you one hundred percent." She gripped her whip with a determined grin.

Garnet was taken aback by her words, it wasn't in Amethyst's character to be as inspired or honest as she was then. Internally Garnet was a whirlwind of emotions and questions (which is how she had felt for the last week or so, it was already becoming a familiar feeling to her), but she nodded in acknowledgement and decided that was a good enough response to the words that surprisingly comforted her in this dire hour.

Meanwhile Pearl, who wanted to say something similar but couldn't find the words at the time, simply sighed. "I just hope we'll be able to handle whatever comes our way."

Garnet turned away from the two of them and looked around at the Kindergarten, at the decayed and hue-less land and cliff walls that had once had been another piece of nature more beautiful than anything that existed today that had had the life cruelly robbed from its possession. Garnet took a deep breath.

"That makes two of us."

* * *

Under any other normal circumstances, going on a mission with her best friend would make Connie feel valued and restless with excitement. These were not normal circumstances, and Connie was not very excited at the task lain before them.

She was actually feeling the exact opposite of what she knew she should be feeling; fearful, anxious (in the overwhelming, hopeless and impossible way), inadequate and like she was in way over her head with all this. She was usually determined and willing to do anything it took to complete a mission, but this wasn't some mission to impress Steven and the gems. This time the stakes were so much higher than ever before, and she wasn't sure her and Steven could win. Not against Homeworld. Not against an enemy who's smarter and stronger and has far superior technology than Earth could ever hope to achieve on their own. If she were being honest with herself, Connie would've believed that her and Steven alone stood no chance against anything Homeworld could throw at them. But right now she wasn't being honest, and like a good friend would, kept her negative (yet perfectly warranted and understandable) thoughts to herself and put on a brave face for Steven. She would go through with the "surveillance" they were on, but the minute things went south, she'd be gone. Hopefully with Steven, but not necessarily.

It didn't take long for Steven and Connie to reached their destination. Per Steven's request, he asked Lion to use his teleporting roar to get there as fast as possible. Lion, who clearly understood the kids' mission, had the foresight to teleport them a good quarter mile from the mouth of the cavern entrance of the Kindergarten, as to make sure no one at the Kindergarten would detect them, thus giving them the element of surprise. The three of them made their way over the extra distance and silently made it to the lifeless, rocky and soul-wrenching tomb that was the Prime Kindergarten.

For Steven the place needed no introduction, as he had been here several times already. Connie on the other hand, had never seen this place before, and it wasn't a good first impression. The land devoid of all life and hue, the high canyon walls with countless holes appearing as large humanoid shapes and deep enough to make her feel nauseous and claustrophobic from even looking at them, all of it was overwhelming and gave her a new sense of horror that would continue to affect her in the dreadful years to come.

"This...is the place you told me about," Connie said. "The Prime Kindergarten."

"Yeah..." was all Steven could say about the manner. The place itself was not something he enjoyed talking about or being around for long. "This is where Homeworld grew its quartz soldiers. This is where Amethyst came from."

Despite herself, Connie let out a small chuckle at that comment. She decided to explain when Steven gave her a look of confusion. "It's just crazy to think that someone as lively and humorous as Amethyst came from a place like..." She waved a hand in front of them. "Like this."

Steven smiled and nodded in agreement. "Totally crazy. But I like how Amethyst turned out, it would be hard for a place like the Kindergarten to produce something good like her. Luck, I guess."

He gave Lion couple pats to usher him forward and they rode deeper into the old gem catacombs. Along the way Connie took note of the numerous holes that used to house strong quartz soldiers, servants of Homeworld, and in a strange and timid curiosity, observed the various partly-disassembled gem drills and their weird characteristics. The giant alien tool was essentially just...a giant drill, with long metallic legs for stability and grappling, but it also featured a glass core container filled with some kind of maroon and burgandy liquid resembling blood. She had no idea what it was or why it was being harvested, but the technology itself was interesting emough, and remarkably similiar to the engineering of construction vehicles and tool on Earth. Connie would have to come back later with Pearl or Peridot maybe, and dismantle it completely to better understand its purpose and construction. There was some definite use they could get from all this alien technology lying around.

"So," Connie asked," What is it we're looking for exactly?"

"Anything that looks new or out of the ordinary," Steven answered, clearly not thinking through his answer.

"Um, I've never been here," Connie said knowingly. "Everything for me is new and out of the ordinary."

Steven face palmed himself for not remembering that critical piece of information. "Right. Duh." He straightened up again and scanned the layout of their location. "For now just...look for any signs of people being here recently. All these drills are from the Gem war, so don't worry about them. Look for newer-looking thingies and keep an eye out for any signs of life."

And then they heard it. A high-pitched, whining drone loudly blaring not too far away in the distance, echoing off the rocky layers of the quartz harvesting area. The both of them didn't have to take a guest at what it was; it was the unmistakable sound of a siren ringing, alerting all within the vicinity of the area that someone or something had been found out. Like maybe a pair of children and their lion who had tried sneaking into an old abandoned gem breeding ground that apparently wasn't as abandonded as they thought it was.

"What? Who could that be? What tripped the alarm?" Connie wondered with a bit of concern in her voice, wrapping her arms tightly around Steven's waist in comfort. The sudden and unexpected reaction that she had made her internally blush, but she was focused on more pressing manners at the moment.

Steven replied, "I don't know, but I don't want to find out. Lion, let's-"

Lion let out a sharp growl and Connie felt his entire body tense up at the sound of the alarm. He started jumping up and down with his front leg in an ornery fit of aggression, and the children were having a hard time staying on his back.

"Whoa! What's he doing?!" An alarmed Connie asked.

"I-oof! I don't know!" Steven cried back. "He's never done this before! Lion! What's wro-" and with one last hard shake the kids went tumbling off the feline's back onto the cold dead ground. They sat there and had coughing fits from all the dust that had risen from their scuffle. Connie felt a painful stinging on her left and and she was already sure that it was scraped, but she wasn't sure just how bad it was just yet, the confusion of what had just happened and that blaring alien alarm were still fresh on her mind.

Steven stopped coughing, looked up at the strange-acting feline and spoke with an angered tone. "What the heck, Lion? What'd you do that for?"

As if he were actually responding, he let out a series of lower growls and what sounded like fearful whimpers, indicating that he was just really spooked by their whole ordeal. Then without warning, he roared to summon one of his portals and leapt straight threw before it closed behind him, leaving the kids completely alone.

"Where'd he go?" Connie asked as she rose to her feet, dusting the loose sediments off her clothes.

"I don't know," Steven answered as he repeated her process of rising and collecting himself before retrieving the camera he brought with them and inspecting it for damage. "But one thing's for certain. He really did _not_ want to stick around to see what that alarm meant."

It was only a few seconds later did they get an idea on what the alarm would bring. Somewhere nearby in the Kindergarten, they heard the quiet but distinct sound of footfalls of a group of people in the distance heading towards them.

"Wait, be quiet! Do you hear that?" asked Connie, looking around to figure out what direction the footsteps where coming from.

"I do, and I don't plan on sticking around to figure out who they are." Steven pointed to the numerous holes from the gems that came from them , namely one that was closer to the top of cliff wall and easier to hide. "I can use my floating power to get us up there, we can hide there."

"No!" Connie rebuked. "We should run back the way we came and-"

"There's no time!" Without waiting for debate, Steven grabbed connie in his arms bridal style and leapt into the air. He willed his body toto casually float up to the hole he was referring to. He gently set connie down into the empty hole and ushered her inside, then took the camera wrapped around his neck and tossed it in with her.

"Are you good in here?" he asked.

"I'm fine, now it's your turn." She took him by the wrists and started pulling him inside with surprising difficulty.

The footsteps grew nearer. Whoever was coming would be on top of them in seconds.

"Hurry!" Steven frantically cried, trying to contort his body to fit inside the cramped space.

With a few more tugs and another grunt, Connie finally managed to pull him inside. Evidently just in the nick of time too, as Steven slipped the rest of his body in, the group making the footsteps rounded the corner and came into view.

Steven and Connie got a good look at the greeting party. They were gems, Homeworld gems indefinitely, as the diamond insignia on the front of their uniforms proved, but they weren't gems Connie was familiar with. They were about average height for humans, with dixie cut white hair, deep blue-green skin with varying blotches of dark imperial purple thrown in, and their eyes seemed to shine a startling piercing lime glow. That was the first thing Connie noticed, but that wasn't what gave her a sense of unease in the pit of her stomach. It was how just how many of them, and how _quiet_ they were as they marched past. What sounded like a group of individuals a good ways away was actually an entire platoon of gem soldiers _right on top of them_ dutifully marching in columns towards their destination. Compared to what Connie previously envisioned, they produced hardly a sound to match their numbers. If Homeworld went to war against Earth and they were able to mask their numbers like that, they could never fight back.

 _They could hide anywhere and move without any detection whatsoever,_ she thought. _How do you fight an enemy when you can't even hear them coming?_

Another thing she took note of what their weapon. She knew Steven and the Crystal Gems could summon their own personal weapons from within their gems if they needed to defend themselves, but these gems were different. Each of them wielded some strange futuristic-looking rifles pulsating with energy, and they looked extremely light and simple in design. And dangerous. Connie had no idea what damage they were capable of, and she wanted to keep it that way.

After a few agonizing seconds, the platoon passed them by without so much as a glance in their elevated hideaway and their footsteps seemed to completely cease after they rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.

They waited an extra few seconds before talking. There could be more soldiers nearby.

"Steven..." Connie turned to him, and his expression of fear confirmed what they were both thinking.

"There were so many of them," he noted. "And they were so quiet, it was a miracle we heard them over the alarm."

"Exactly. And there could be more of them lurking around the whole place." She took a shaky breath before continuing.

"Steven...I think we should go back. We don't know what we're up against, and I don't think we can fight them if we get cornered."

"What!? No!" Steven exclaimed, failing to mask his discontent. "We need to follow them and find out why Homeworld is here at the Kindergarten and tell the gems! They need to know what's going on so they don't get hurt going in blind. Why do you think we came here, Connie?"

"Steven this isn't a game we're playing! This is _life and death_ , and I'm not comfortable with continuing some wannabe stealth mission just because we were told to stay out of this by the gems I don't even have my _sword_ with me, and we're in a place surrounded by enemies we know nothing about. Use your head, Steven, what are we doing here?"

"Why are you fighting me on this?" Steven was clearly hurt by her strong disagreement, but at this point she didn't care. This was crazy, sneaking into a place she's never been in with hostile enemies crawling around the place with no backup or even a plan to follow, she was done. Steven would just have to cope.

"I'm not doing this anymore, I'm done with this mission and I'm done fighting you on this. Get me out of this hole, we're going home."

Steven stared at her in disbelief for a few moments before looking away, silently pondering the situation by himself, and Connie maintained her gaze on him, fighting an internal battle within herself. Her and Steven literally _never_ fought with one another before, nor have they ever had such a strong disagreement , much less one over something this serious. Within a single hour - less than that, really - they had been in two arguments, this one and the one they had earlier about deciding to tell the gems of Steven's newfound ability to heal corrupted gem, and they were both pretty nasty. As angry as she was with Steven, she understood that this wasn't them. It was all the pressure, and above all, fear, over the threat of Homeworld looking them right in the eye. Despite all the training she had undergone, she truly believed she wouldn't be much help against an enemy with technology or training as advanced as someone from Homeworld.

But they defeated Jasper. Steven and Connie fused, and Stevonnie was able to fend off both Jasper and her giant gem mutants with relative ease. That was something alright, but she was practically alone, it seemed Homeworld had an _army_ of battle ready gem soldiers. Connie had faith in herself and Steven, the Crystal Gems too. But this would be something entirely different than what her and Steven had faced before. The stakes were high, she could see that already before the fighting even began. Fusion wouldn't be enough this time, they would need the Crystal Gems, they would need Lapis and Peridot, anyone. Everyone. Otherwise the battle was already lost.

"Fine," Steven said finally.

Connie was thrown by what he said. "What?"

"I won't make you do this if you don't want to," he explained, his anger visibly subsiding. "I know how crazy this is, how crazy everything is about Homeworld and Earth, and you're scared you're gonna get hurt. I get it, I'd be scared too. I _am_ scared." He took a deep breath. "But I can't just sit at home while I know that my home is in danger, that my family is in danger, when I can do something about it. My mother sacrificed everything to protect Earth from the Diamonds. I owe it to her, to the gems..." He looked away from her. "To you...to do everything to make sure everyone and everything I love is safe."

Connie was awestruck by the sincerity and reverence of his words. This kid was fourteen years old, why was he so brave? So dedicated? So eager to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, even if it could bring him harm? She asked herself how can someone be so... _good?_ She didn't know it then, nor did Steven, but that hero complex and his unflinching loyalty to his people and his planet would bring them to do the unthinkable, survive the unbearable, and to ultimately save them later on from their greatest enemy.

Themselves.

"If you don't want to do this, I understand." His tone was sad but his resolve was clear. "But this is something I have to do."

Connie didn't know what to say. She felt ashamed for trying to run away when he needed her the most, she promised she would never do that to him ever since he awkwardly introduced himself to her on the beach so long ago. And honestly, when had they ever run from a fight?

"Then I'll go with you," she said with a smile.

"No, Connie, I'm not going to force you to-"

"You're not forcing me to go anywhere," she interjected. "You were right, we can't just let this happen, whatever exactly's going on here. If this is as serious as it seems, us and the Gems might be the _only_ ones who can do anything about it." She awkwardly reached over in their hole and took the camera from Steven's neck, putting it over her own.

"I won't let you do this alone," she said with her own level of resolve. "We're going to do what we came here to do." She held up her hand for a high-five.

"Together," she added with a smile on her face and determination burning in her eyes.

Steven returned a smile and went to accept her gesture, but he stopped himself and hesitated, a look of deep concern swallowing up his smile and bravery. Connie got worried and was about to ask what was wrong when he suddenly pulled her into one of his signature hugs, warm and firm, his head perched on her shoulder, and the concern in her grew a smidge.

"I don't know what's gonna happen when we go back out there. I can't guarantee that we'll be okay." Drips of something wet and warm fell on her shoulder and down her back. Steven was crying.

"I have _absolutely no idea_ what's gonna happen, Connie." His voice was breaking. "We don't have the Gems here to tell us what to do, we're completely on our own. I don't want anything to happen to..." and he began to sob.

"Oh, _Steven._ " She returned the embrace and wrapped her arms around her bestie as he quietly broke down. She felt his fear, his uncertainty, in her own heart as he felt it in his, and she knew it was valid for the two of them. She also realized just how much she meant to him, and even though she always knew what _he_ was to _her_ , it came back to her like never before, like being struck by lightning. Connie held the most important person in her entire world in her arms, and she could lose him in this hellish place. That was almost too much to bear, but she wasn't going anywhere, not when Steven needed her, not when Earth needed her. In fact, Steven was her top priority now. She'd put aside all her fears and uncertainty for him for now, until everything was over. This was just too important.

"I'm sorry." Steven suddenly pulled away from her and furiously wiped away his tears. "I shouldn't be doing this. I need to pull myself together and putting aside ny emotions and whatnot, I-"

"Don't say that," she stopped him. "Don't you ever apologize for showing your feelings, especially to me. Get it, Universe?" She grinned to show the humour in her words

Steven couldn't help but chuckle from that, something Connie was happy for giving him, and rotated his body to get a peek outside to see if the coast was clear. It was at this point she noticed that at some point during their conversation, the alarm had been cut off, filling the Kindergarten with its usual voice of silence. This gave Connie a small, nagging sense of unease, but Steven seemed unaffected by the lack of the blaring siren. She couldn't tell from her position deeper in the hole, but Connie assumed that they were good from going off his report.

"Looks like no one's around," he noted. "Let's go."

Steven cooted to the mouth of the hole and swung his legs over the edge. Then right before he could've jumped out, Connie suddenly got an idea and grabbed him by the shoulders to keep him inside.

"Wait! We're going to be taking pictures of anything we see, right?"She asked rhetorically, then pointed upwards to the rocky "ceiling" of their hole.

Connie suggested, "Instead of creeping around on the ground with the risk of getting caught by an enemy-gem patrol, why don't we climb up to the _top_ of the cliff so we can take pictures without getting caught."

"That's actually a great idea!" Steven agreed gleefully before adding dramatically, "Then we'll see _everything_ , they'll have nowhere to hide from... _the Jam Bud Private Investigators!"_ Connie burst out in a fit of laughter as Steven proceeded to use his fingers to form an imaginary pistol and clicked his tongue to imitate a gun cocking.

"You're too much sometimes, Steven!" Connie said between laughs, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. "That was hilarious!"

"Haha, I try sometimes," Steven replied, flashing that beautiful signature smile of his. "Okay, let's go. Let me go first, and then I'll pull you up."

Steven went to the edge of the hole and stood up, using his hands to grip the top ledge from the hole's outline. He then crouched and sprang up to the ground above the hole, getting the high ground that would help them greatly if they were to evade detection and effective spy on the enemy. He then spun around, got on his knees and reached out with his hand to his friend below him.

"Take my hand, m'lady," he said all fancy like how a medieval knight would.

Connie snickered as she did just that, reaching out and taking his hand in her own.

"Okay, pull me up on three," she instructed.

He nodded. "One."

"Two."

"Three!" Simultaneously Connie jumped up while Steven pulled and she was able to make it up onto the ground next to him.

"Thanks," Connie said. "Wait, you called me m'lady. I'm _your_ knight, remember? When Pearl started to give me fencing lessons?"

"Oh that's right," Steven replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Um...how about we ditch the labels for now?"

"Works for me. Let's go.

* * *

They didn't have to go very far before they found something of interest. After a few minutes of walking through the Kindergarten, which wasn't very big to begin with, and keeping an eye out for any more patrols, they found exactly what they wanted to find. Or rather, what they _didn't_ want them to find.

As they walked along the flat land of top of the cliff, they stumbled upon a clearing in the lower valley of the Kindergarten and both shared a collective gasp at what they found.

Connie looked down and saw, as far as she could see, an insanely huge staging area of gem soldiers and their technology. There were dozens of soldiers and workers of all sizes and colors who were either bustling about with moving equipment and carrying weapons around or standing in small huddles holding and pointing at some kind of strange electronic clipboards to one another and talking. She also saw that there were tons more of those soldiers they almost ran into earlier marching and patrolling still, armed with the same alien rifles, and a few had different ones that didn't look familiar, but that looked just as advanced and just as lethal. Aside from those specific soldiers, Connie didn't recognize any of the other kinds of gems in the sizable alien menagerie. Another feature to the camp were several large rectangular tents, mahogany brown in color, scattered throughout the valley streching from end to end of the Kindergarten. On the opposite side of where Steven and Connie were, on the flat cliff side, double-barrelled cannons the size of cars were placed every twenty paces or so, positioned at all the visible entrances to the Kindergarden and, Connie was sure of it, at all the ones that _weren't_ visible from where the kids were standing. At the camp's center, a large square sat literally in the ground, where some sort of basic elevator was transporting gems freely between the surface and whatever they stored down there within the Earth.

"This is huge!" Connie exclaimed. "How many of those gemsdo you think there are?"

Steven replied, "I'd say..." He took a second to try to count them out, but quickly gave upand settled for, 'Too many to count."

"Wait until Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl see this!" Connie took the camera from around her neck, aimed and waited until a large portion of the camp was within the camera's viewfinder, and clicked the trigger button, forever capturing the image of what lied before then. "They'll thank us for disobeying them!"

"Take as many pictures as you can," Steven said, but Connie was already focused on her task, taking pictures of everything she saw, from the cannons to the gems marching and moving equipment to the gems studying their weird clipboards as well as the strange underground elevator they had going on.

"What's that?" She inquired, pointing at the giant shape in the ground.

"Um, probably the old abandonded Homeworld base underneath the surface

" _What!?"_ Connie turned to him and said with pure disbelief.

"Well, I think it was a base," he added. "It was the first place I met Peridot. She was trying to restart the Kindergarten, so it seemed important to me."

Then the elevator-pad of the elevator came up from inside the crust into view, and what it brought up was an odd sight for Connie.

On the pad, there was a very large metal and glass disc that kind of glowed in certain spots, but not all around it, and it was covered with holes of different sizes, making it seem incomplete but close to completion as well.

Then Connie saw him. A male gem, standing on the disc, wearing what Connie could only see as a officer's uniform of a sort, and surrounded by a few green gems with some kind of metals arms and legs. The gems were a point of concern to her by themselves, since she couldn't identity what type of gem they were or their skills, but the male officer was the real mystery. All the gems Connie knew (which wasn't much) were females, the sole exception being Steven. Yet this gem was a male, no denying it. He had shoulder length dirty blonde hair, olive skin and seemed pretty strong and sturdy at somewhere around six feet tall. She could see that a pistol was strapped onto a belt around his waist, and he was conversing with the green robot-gems, all of whom had walked off together to tend to whatever they were trying to accomplish.

"Whoa, that's different," Steven said appropriately. "Didn't know gems could be guys, too."

"Really? You've never seen a gem like him before either?" Connie inquired. "I thought you'd know about something like him." She took a series of pictures of the gem and his council of robot-gems before turning back to the disc and elevator.

"And what do you think he's doing down there in that base?" _CLICK, CLICK_ , another two pictures.

"Beats me," Steven said with a shrug. "And I wonder what that thing is on the elevator. Last time I rode it down there, that wasn't-" He stopped and stared at the disc for a moment, and Connie could practically see the gears spinning in his head as he thought. Then, as if he had seen something of great concern, he gasped and fear manifested itself on his face.

Connie grew uneasy by her friend's expression. "Steven? What is-"

"I know what it is," he said in terror, taking a step back. "And it's not good. Oh stars, this is _bad,_ so very bad."

"What is it? What's so bad about that disc?" Connie was feeling the fear now, too.

"It's a Galaxy Warp," he answered with an uneven voice, his voice shaky like a leaf.

"What does that mean?"

"You know those really bright things, the Warp Pads, that the gems and I use to teleport to different places on Earth? Well, a Galaxy Warp teleports you across the _entire galaxy_ in _seconds._ If I'm right and that's what they're building-"

"It would make them be able to teleport an entire _army_ here in the blink of an eye to invade Earth," Connie finished, now terrified of the prospect of total annihilation by Homeworld even more real. "Oh, God. Oh, _God..._

"This is bad, we can't stay here," Steven said frantically, grabbing Connie by the hand and turning to run the opposite direction. "We need to get-" Steven gasped, and Connie let out a startled scream.

 **"Get what?"** the pair of Amethyst guards that were behind them asked in unison, brandishing battle axes and holding them in an attack stance.

"You didn't plan on _leaving_ , did you?" Scarface asked with a menacing smile on her face.

"Yeah, why don't you two go down there and join the party?" Pitchy added, a similar expression of that of her counterpart had.

Without waiting for a reply, Pitchy forcibly grabbed Connie by the front of her shirt. Connie let out another scream and she struggled to be released to no avail.

"Steven! Run!" Connie yelled at him fearfully.

"Hey!" Steven said. "Put her down right-" Scarface jabbed him in his eye with the tip of her axe's handle, making him instantly collapse and roll down the cliff into the valley.

"STEVEN!" Connie screamed out, reaching out to him as he fell.

"Don't worry," Pitchy chuckled. "You can join him too!" And with that declaration, she dropped Connie down the side of the cliff and sent her tumbling down to be with her friend. The world began to spin and roll with her movements, and with every roll was a sharp pain on her side or her gut that made her cry out in and see everything turn white from the searing pain she felt as she rolled, all before coming to a stop and slamming her head against the ground as she finally came to a halt on the valleh floor.

Connie was nearly unconscious, her surroundings nothing but a shaky blur, all of her senses dulled and nearly gone altogether. She managed to look around and see how just about every gem solider it there were right above her, guns trained on her and the fleshy blob in her vison next to her.

"Steven..." she weakly called out.

"Connie..." she heard in response.

"Well what do we have here?" a masculine voice asked. Connie somehow managed to look up and track the speaker.

"I thought something like this would happen," the male gem said, keeping eye contact with them. "In fact, I _willed_ it so. Nothing gets past me, ever." He turned to his soldiers. "Put them with the others. We'll see what they'll have to say to me, if they decide _not_ to beg for their lives."

Connie felt someone grab her arms and she saw someone do the same to Steven and they were both dragged into one of the camp tents nearby. The gems who moved them then practically threw them inside and left them like that.

"Connie are you okay?" Steven asked, crawling over to her, who was in a worse state than him.

Connie started coughing, and through the pain, managed to sit up with Steven's help.

"I-ah! I'll be fine." It was a feeble lie, she knew, but he really needed to hear that.

He didn't get a chance to say anything else, as right then, a different voice spoke.

"Steven? Connie?"

The kids looked in the tent with them and were greeted with the battered up faces of Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, all who were chained together and sitting on the ground next to them.

"Oh my God, children!" an overwhelmed Pearl cried out. "What on _Earth_ are you doing here!?"

"We were out looking for you," Steven said, rubbing his eye where he had been struck. "And...sneaking around."

Pearl was just too dumbfounded to form a proper reply, and Amethyst was just silently crying to herself, but Garnet could still talk, and she was livid

"Steven Quartz Universe!" Garnet yelled furiously, despite being badly beaten and an emotional wreck. "This is unacceptable! When we get out of this, you're grounded for-"

All conversation immediately ceased when the door flap was opened and in came the male officer.

"Hello there! Seems like a perfectly calculated rendezvous, doesn't it!" he said gleefully, clapping his hands together.

"Who are you!? What do you want with rhe Earth!?" Garnet asked, temporarily forgetting about Steven.

"Wow, right to the point, eh? I respect that in a gem, I like that in a gem," he replied, then gave Garnet a good slap across the face.

"No!" Steven cried, reaching out but staying put when his movement hurt Connie, the pain in her body flaring up once more.

Garnet grunted, teech clenched, sweat running down her face.

"That felt good, didn't it?" The officer said with a cruel smile. "But I'll answer your question, in case you don't live long enough to hear it again." He stood and formed the diamond salute with his hands.

"My name is Commander Soren Spessartine, and what I want with your planet is simple; I want to _conquer_ it. I want to destroy all life on this disgusting rock, and all because..." He slapped her one more time.

 **"...I _can._ "**

* * *

 **Wow. A lot going on in this chapter, huh? Got the gems dealing with this super important stealth mission, Amethyst being confronted with the idea of shattering another gem for the first time, Connie and Steven sneaking off for their own little mission, and we discover the threat of Homeworld invading even easier than expected, and the gang meeting good ol' Soren Spessartine for the first time. Things are finally heating up again, we'll just have to see how it goes. I'm starting a new updating schedule, this time I'll be updateing at least once a month, and this time I'm gonna commit. As for the other stuff, I'm doing much better now, and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, especially with plans for more stories in this series, so keep a look out for updates, okay?** **Alright, I'm out y'all, and I'm see you in the next one. Peace.**


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